Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu credited Rs 300 crore to 2,351 families displaced by the Veligonda project on Saturday. The money went to evacuees from Kalanutala, Sunkesula, Chintalamudipi, Katamraju Tanda and Sairam Nagar.
“Today, we are crediting Rs 300 crore to 2,351 evacuees,” Naidu told the beneficiaries, at an event in Yerragondapalem. He said the TDP-led NDA government had spent Rs 759 crore since taking power in 2024 and had sanctioned Rs 905 crore for the evacuees, of which this payment was part.
Water by July 31
Naidu promised that first-phase water would flow by July 31, irrigating 1.19 lakh acres and covering the drinking needs of four lakh people. The second phase would reach 3.2 lakh acres and 11.2 lakh people. Taken together, he said, nearly 4.5 lakh acres would be irrigated and 23 lakh people would get drinking water.
The project now needs Rs 10,580 crore, by his figures. Rs 6,736 crore has been spent, and Rs 3,844 crore remains. He said it would end what he called a decades-old fluoride problem in the region. Naidu also used the occasion to blame the previous YSRCP government for the state’s money troubles. He said it had “devastated the state’s finances.”
Sanjeevani and other schemes
Later he spoke at a public meeting at KS Palem on Sanjeevani, a digital health record programme. “We will protect everybody’s health in the state through Sanjeevani,” he said. Every level of the health system, from primary health centres to super speciality hospitals, has been linked to a single digital platform. From August 15 the programme goes statewide with appointment booking, health follow-up and virtual consultations. Naidu said 2.6 crore people have already been screened for non-communicable diseases.
He also announced that Talliki Vandanam, a welfare scheme paying Rs 15,000 a year per school-going child, would be implemented in July.
On farming, Naidu said a new app is meant to curb heavy use of fertilisers and pesticides, and that there is no urea shortage in the state. He noted that China had rejected chilli consignments from Andhra Pradesh, and pointed to the 20 lakh acres now under natural farming.
He said the government is considering rewards for families with more children, and he urged young people to learn artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
Sources
- CM Naidu disburses Rs 300 cr to Veligonda project evacuees; launches Sanjeevani health programme
- Naidu Disburses Rs.300 Cr to Veligonda Project Evacuees
