New Chairman For 20-point Program

The Rosaiah government, on Friday, appointed N Tulasi Reddy from Pulivendula, Kadapa district, as chairman of its 20-Point program, with a Cabinet rank.

The government also hopes that the program's implementation would go a long way in enhancing its image and increasing its base.

The performances of states have been graded based on the performance and implementation of the 20-point program. Andhra Pradesh had stood first in the year '92-'93, and thereafter, it had slumped and was relegated to the 23rd rank.

'Garibi Hatao' tops the list, and the State government will give due importance to this as part of its renewed efforts to implement the program.

As a part of these efforts, emphasis was given to SC family coverage. Out of 40 lakh SC families have been targeted, but only half were covered, said AP planning commission special chief secretary Tishya Chatterjee.

Taking charge as the chairman on Friday, Tulasi Reddy expressed confidence that Andhra Pradesh would once again attain the first rank at the national level in the implementation of the scheme with necessary changes made for better spread and better public response.

Tulasi Reddy said that the concept of the scheme was to erase poverty and alleviate the sufferings of the poor.

Reddy added that the former prime minister Indira Gandhi, who held the program dear to her, started it in 1975 and was keen on its implementation and extending a helping hand to the poor.

The State government has now taken it up as a challenge to identify the aims and targets of the UPA government, keeping in view the SAARC nations' ideology.

Reddy added that since the gradation/rank acts as a kind of scale to measure the performance of the scheme, he would strive to take Andhra Pradesh to rank first in India again.

The State planning commission will send details of the working and implementation of the scheme to the Centre to gauge the State's efforts.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would also be informed about the efforts put in by the various states for the implementation of the scheme.

Reportedly, the data will be precise to the point of mandal-wise statistics. This essentially means that the new chairman has a huge task before him.

Courtesy: INN