The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), if voted to power in Andhra Pradesh in 2024 Assembly elections, will bring in reforms to make power available at an affordable cost to consumers, its national general secretary Nara Lokesh has promised.
“Power tariff, which was not hiked during the previous TDP regime, has been increased nine times by the YSRCP government in various forms including true-up and fuel adjustment charges,” he said during an interaction with the granite traders from Chimakurthy known on the 168th day of his ‘Yuva Galam‘ padayatra on July 28 (Friday).
The recurrent hikes in power tariff during the YSRCP tenure were a result of the high cost of the power purchased from independent power producers for the sake of ‘kickbacks‘, he alleged and promised to review the power purchase agreements if his party was voted to power. “The YSRCP government went for a costlier option keeping the cheaper ones aside,” he said.
Mr. Lokesh also unveiled a plaque marking the coverage of 2,200 km during his padayatra, at Thuravagunta village. More than 1500 persons took selfies with Mr.Lokesh on the occasion. He promised an underground drainage project for Ongole.
Granite industry
‘’We will bring in a policy friendly to granite traders and bring down the power tariff from the present ₹7 per unit to ₹4 per unit,” Mr. Lokesh promised he assured the granite unit owners and workers as the granite industry passed through times.
The traders complained that the sector was going through a tough time owing to the hike in mining royalty and restrictions on the movement of containers. More than half of the 800 granite polishing units in the region had downed the shutters, they said.
Subsidy for farmers
Later interacting with a group of farmers at the Ongole market yard, Mr. Lokesh promised the revival of subsidy on drip irrigation system, interest-free crop loan, 3% subsidy on loan taken by farmers by pledging gold and higher investment subsidy.
“The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) will be linked with agriculture. The glory of Ongole Cooperative Dairy will be restored and market intervention will be made to improve the prices for subabul and eucalyptus logs as the farmers suffered because of market slump now,” he promised.
Interacting with unemployed youth at the Mangamma College, he promised the periodic release of job calender to fill vacancies in various government departments, an unemployment allowance of ₹3,000 per month and creation of 20 lakh jobs in public and private sectors.
Mr. Lokesh, while interacting with a group of Dalits at Edugondlapadu, promised the revival of 24 welfare schemes ‘scrapped’ by the YSRCP government and improvement of civic infrastructure in Dalit colonies.
