Amaravati, Sep 18 (IANS): The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet on Wednesday unanimously approved the new excise policy which will come into force on October 1. The Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu gave its approval.
Minister for Information and Public Relations, Kolusu Parthasarathi, told mediapersons after the Cabinet meeting that the Cabinet decided to adopt a private retail system for the sale of liquor as part of an attempt to increase management efficiency. Of the 3,736 retail outlets in the state, 10 per cent will be allotted to the toddy-tappers community, the Minister stated.
The Chief Minister directed the Excise officials to see to it that quality liquor is available in the market at a very reasonable price, Parthasarathi said, adding that the allotment of retail outlets will be done most transparently. For this, a lottery system will be adopted, he added.
The proposal to provide 33 percent reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) in legislative bodies also got the Cabinet nod. This apart, the meeting resolved to establish an Artificial Intelligence (AI) University and a Skilling Academy in the state.
The Cabinet also decided to cancel the order issued by the previous government for payment of Rs 200 each every month to village volunteers and secretariats as newspaper allowance. It felt that this was causing Rs 102 crore loss to the state every year.
The Cabinet approved naming Bhogapuram Airport as the Alluri Seetharamaraju International Airport and setting up the Andhra Pradesh Ex-Servicemen Corporation with a corpus fund of Rs 3 crore.
The meeting also decided to rename the Vision Document Vikasitha Andhra-2047 as the Swarnandhra@2047 and also release the Swarnandhra Vision Document on November 1, the Minister told media persons. Before releasing the Vision Document, talks will be held with the stakeholders from September 21 to October 5, he added.
The Cabinet gave its nod for the GOs released on June 12 and August 25 to fill 58 posts in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) on a temporary basis only to strengthen the official machinery in the CMO to resolve the issues of the Chief Minister Relief Fund (CMRF) and the complaints lodged with the CMO, Parthasarathi said. The Chief Minister advised the Cabinet to initiate steps to strengthen the systems by utilising technology and good practices that are available now.
The Ministry also okayed the proposal for the creation of a preliminary corpus fund of Rs 100 crore for the 2024-25 financial year only to take the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) on the progressive path extending the benefits received under the Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme of the Centre to these MSMEs. With this, the MSMEs will get the loan facility to the extent of Rs 5 crore without providing any collateral security, Parthasarathi explained.
The Council of Ministers cleared the proposal for establishing the second MSME Technology Centre-cum-Testing Facility at Amaravati instead of at Mega Industrial Hub at Kopparthy in Kadapa district. The Cabinet approved the move to hand over 20 acres of land to this through the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) in Amaravati.
The Cabinet approved the ratification orders of the Polavaram Chief Engineer to continue the present agency for the construction of a new diaphragm wall works of the Polavaram project on which is considered to be the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh. The fresh works to be taken up will be carried out transparently through bidding, he added.