Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment A. Narayanaswamy has reiterated that the State government can’t renege on its commitment to develop Amaravati as the capital of Andhra Pradesh.
Political parties in power should not go about reversing the policies framed by their predecessors as the implications would be far-reaching, he said while addressing the media here on Thursday.
Mr. Narayanaswamy said the place where the Legislative Assembly was situated ought to be treated as the capital and insisted that the parties refrain from taking decisions that would affect the people at large.
Centre’s role
He said, in the same vein, that in a federal structure, the Central government could not impose its views on the States.
The Centre was duty-bound to extend financial and logistical support to States and, as far as Andhra Pradesh was concerned, its responsibility was limited to implementing the provisions of the A.P. Reorganisation Act, 2014.
Kidney failure cases
Mr. Narayanaswamy said a large number of kidney failure cases were being reported from 72 villages in NTR district. Pointing the finger of blame at the State government, he accused it of not taking steps for supplying drinking water to every house as was envisaged under the Jal Jeevan Mission and Atal Bhujal Yojana.
He alleged that the State was promptly taking the Central government’s share under the Ayushman Bharat scheme and making payments to hospitals on behalf of the BPL families. However, Ayushman Bharat cards were not printed anywhere in the State. By doing so, the credit that should go to the Centre was being entirely claimed by the State, he said.
In spite of the implementation of Poshan Abhiyan, there were a large number of anaemia cases in children aged between six and 15 and quite a big number of births of low-weight babies. The State government should take remedial action, he said.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Mangalagiri was not in a position to provide treatment to inpatients due to lack of water facility. “If the State government can’t supply water, why should it exist,” he questioned.
