Reddy to seek financial assistance from Centre

Andhra Pradesh will seek financial assistance, including an additional Rs 2000 crore under NREGA, from Centre to meet the drought situation prevailing in the state. 

Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday in Delhi, would request the Centre to grant the additional Rs 2000 crore to provide wage employment to more people in view of the drought, sources in the Chief Minister's Office said.      

Besides, the state also wants the Centre to release Rs 103.88 crore as subsidy for providing alternative seeds to farmers in the drought-hit districts.     

The Chief Minister, who will leave for Delhi tomorrow, will attend the Chief Ministers' meeting on internal security organised by the Centre on Monday.     

 

Andhra Pradesh will request the Centre to declare three more districts — Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam — as Maoist-affected since the activities of the banned CPI (Maoist) were on the rise in Andhra-Orissa Border (AOB)zone. 

At present only Khammam district, bordering Chhattisgarh, finds a place in the Maoist-affected districts list of the Centre. By getting three more districts as Maoist-affected, Andhra Pradesh hopes to secure additional funds from the Centre for stepping up police activities there.     

Additional striking forces could also be deployed in these districts to counter the Maoist offensive. The Chief Minister is also expected to seek early clearance for the proposal to set up 15 more Marine Police stations along the Bay of Bengal border in the state. Only six Marine Police stations are in operation in the nine coastal districts.The state government has recently posted a Deputy Inspector General of Police to head marine policing to improve vigil along the 1000-km coast.