Andhra Pradesh Cabinet gives nod to caste census, takes other key decisions

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India], November 4 : The Andhra Pradesh cabinet, presided over by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, on Friday took several key decisions including carrying out a comprehensive caste-based census in the state.
The Cabinet in a meeting held at the secretariat here decided to carry out the exercise, a month after the Bihar government released its caste survey data.

During the discussion on the issue, Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy observed it would be helpful for alleviating the lives of oppressed classes and taking their social empowerment to the next level.
Apart from that, the Cabinet appreciated the Jagananna Aarogya Suraksha as 11,700 camps have been conducted so far in which 6.4 crore medical tests were conducted.
According to the state government, more than 8,72,000 eye tests were also conducted with around 11,300 persons undergoing eye surgeries and eyeglasses distributed to more than 5,22,000 persons.
The Chief Minister during the Cabinet meeting suggested that all ministers should actively participate in Aarogya Suraksha which would be conducted from January 1 again.
The Cabinet decided to undertake another public awareness campaign about the YSR Aarogyasri programme from November 15 to December 15 to help people download the Aarogyasri App and educate them about free medical treatment of various diseases being provided at the listed hospitals.
Besides, it has decided to implement a new land allotment policy for setting up industries, allot 5400 acres of land for Ecoren Energy India Ltd to establish 902 MW solar energy plants in Nandyala and YSR districts and make an additional allotment of 2 acres of land to MRK Group to establish hotels in Tirupati district.
The Cabinet has also agreed to the proposal of establishing an 800 MW wind energy plant and allotting another 100 acres of land to establish the National Law University in the Kurnool district.
The Cabinet has also approved the allotment of lands for the construction of government offices in several districts and the allotment of industrial lands below 50 acres made by APIIC.
It has permitted the APIIC to transform the 1200 acres of land allotted at Pudimadaka in Anakapalli district for setting up a thermal power plant into a green hydrogen zone and raise Rs 95,000 crore investments through NTPC.
It has agreed to provide a huge concession on payment of electricity duty by the ferroalloys industry which employs nearly 50,000 persons. It will impose a financial burden of Rs. 766 crore on the State exchequer.
It has also decided to provide a guarantee for securing a loan of Rs 5000 crore for the procurement of Kharif paddy by Civil Supplies Corporation and MARKFED.
Besides ratifying the Dearness Allowance hike by 3.64 per cent for government employees and pensioners with effect from July 1, 2022, the Cabinet has also approved the local cadre and direct recruitment draft 2023 under which the State would be divided into six zones. Except for the posts of departmental heads, commissionerate and other state levels posts, 95 per cent of the appointments for other posts would be filled by locals.
Fulfilling the election promise made to journalists, the Cabinet has also decided to allot house sites of three cents each to working journalists.
The Cabinet has also agreed to allot necessary land for the construction of its own complex for Piduguralla Municipality.
It gave the green signal to appoint experts to train the students in future skills in 6790 Government High Schools with the support and guidance of nearby Engineering Colleges, the government said in a statement.
The Cabinet has also decided to provide an exemption to the displaced persons of the Polavaram Project and also the beneficiaries of house sites under Navaratnalu- Pedalandariki Illu in Visakhapatnam district from payment of stamp duty, registration fees and user charges, it added.
The Cabinet also gave its nod to fill 3200 vacancies of teaching and non-teaching staff in Universities and IIITs and also fill the Group I and Group II vacant posts in various departments.
The Cabinet has approved the proposal to appoint 467 persons through outsourcing to run the R&B guest houses, to fill 100 inspector posts in the police department and sanction 22 posts for the State Police Complaints Authority besides filling up the posts in the Endowments department and establishing necessary transport department offices in East Godavari and Sri Satya Sai districts and recruit necessary staff.
The Cabinet has also decided to establish a dialyses research centre and super speciality hospital at Markapuram and fill 21 posts in the Nephrology department at Markapuram Medical College. It has approved a proposal to provide a Group I job to Table Tennis player Saket Mineni.
The Cabinet has approved the welfare calendar for November following which Rythu Bharosa, Vidya deevena and Kalyanmastu funds would be distributed on November 7, 28 and 30 respectively while a special historical programme would be conducted on November 15 for distribution of assigned and Inam lands with ownership rights and for waiver of loans obtained by people from SC Corporation for purchase of lands.