Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav. File
| Photo Credit: R.V.S. PRASAD
The State government on Saturday cleared the payment of dues amounting to nearly ₹6,700 crore to various sections ahead of Sankranti.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu took a decision to this effect in a review meeting with Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav and Chief Secretary K. Vijayanand, among others.
Briefing the media about it later, Mr. Keshav said the government was facing a severe financial crunch, but it did not want the people to suffer. Moreover, the pending dues were to be paid in order to reboot the economy. He observed that releasing funds on such a large scale was a bold step taken by the government, which was overcoming the impediments in its path one by one.
“We have no magic wand, but will do what all has been promised at the time of the elections,” the Finance Minister asserted, while pointing out that the government was under intense pressure to make the pending payments.
Fee reimbursement
Coming to the fund release, Mr. Keshav said a sum of approximately ₹1,300 crore was being given to employees towards GPF, leave encashment etc., and ₹788 crore for fee reimbursement, which would benefit about 6.50 lakh students.
A total of ₹580 crore was being paid to about 26,000 small contractors who had executed works valued up to ₹10 lakh, and people from whom lands were acquired by the previous government for various projects.
Another payment was nearly ₹100 crore that was due to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) under various schemes. The DISCOMs were being paid ₹500 crore towards reimbursement of subsidies given by them to the consumers.
Vaidya Seva dues
Further, Mr. Keshav said a sum of ₹400 crore was cleared for payment to hospitals rendering services under the NTR Vaidya Seva scheme against total dues amounting to ₹3,000 crore. The balance would be paid from time to time.
The Minister said the NDA Government paid approximately ₹6,000 crore to the Central government for reviving 94 Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS), which remained suspended as the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government had not paid its 40% share and also misused the balance 60% given by the Centre.
He noted that the government was saddled with a huge debt of ₹10 lakh crore, and it was under the obligation to clear pending bills of nearly ₹1.30 lakh crore.
The NDA Government was bound by the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (APERC) order regarding the true-up charges, which were imposed in 2019-24, as it was a court, he said, adding that no fresh charges would be levied.
Published – January 11, 2025 09:21 pm IST