Tag: andhra pradesh CM

Vizag Steel Plant Privatisation Row: CM Jagan Writes to PM Modi to Reconsider

Recently, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had given in-principle approval for 100% strategic disinvestment of the Centre’s shareholding in Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited.

Amaravati: Amid growing outcry against the Centre’s move to privatise Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) which has a steel plant in Visakhapatnam, chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider the decision.

He said the state government is ready to work with the steel ministry to protect the Public Sector Enterprise (PSE), which provides employment to 20,000 people directly and many others indirectly.

“The Government of Andhra Pradesh is ready to work with the Ministry of Steel to protect the jewel of Andhra Pradesh.

Therefore, I request you to kindly reconsider the disinvestment plans of RINL Visakhapatnam and explore other opportunities to put the plant back on track,” he said in the letter, written on Saturday.

RINL the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), a Navratna Company under the Ministry of Steel, currently has a capacity of 7.3 million tonnes per annum and took up plant modernisation and capacity expansion borrowing loans from banks.

Recently, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had given in-principle approval for 100% strategic disinvestment of the Centres shareholding in RINL, along with management control by way of privatisation.

The chief minister said the Cabinet’s clearance for the privatisation has become a point of discussion among people of the state and a cause of concern.

Owing to the unfavourable steel cycle globally, the company was making losses since 2014-15 and was finding it difficult to service the debt, he said

“One of the major structural issues that also leads to high cost of production is the absence of a captive mine, thereby affecting the profitability,” he said.

Reddy suggested that the PSEs short-term loans, along with long-term loans, be converted into equity, taking off repayment pressures and interest burden. He also suggested that RINL be allotted captive Iron Ore Minister in order to reduce the input cost.

Employees of the steel plant and civil society, supported by various political parties, have taken out rallies, demanding that the Centre roll back its decision.

Andhra Pradesh: Sonu Sood’s Charitable Act Sees Farmer Caught in a Political Storm

A controversy has erupted around Viradulli Nageswara Rao, as the ruling YSR Congress government tries to ‘prove’ that farmers in the state are receiving benefits under various welfare schemes.

Amaravati: A charitable act by Sonu Sood has sparked a political row around the condition of farmers in Andhra Pradesh.

The actor is no stranger to Telugu audience, having made his mark in Tollywood (he received a state award for ‘Best Villain’ in the blockbuster flick Arundhati). The Mumbai-based actor has been in the news ever since the COVID-19 lockdown was imposed, as he helped thousands of stranded migrant workers reach their homes by arranging chartered flights, special trains and buses.

In his latest act of charity, Sood sent a brand new tractor to a farmer family based in the drought-prone Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.

A video of two minor girls pulling a plough to sow groundnut in the fields of Mahal Rajupalli village of Chittoor district went viral on social media on Sunday. The video showed Dalit farmer Viradulli Nageswara Rao ploughing his one acre of land with the help of his two daughters—Vennela and Chandana— while his wife sows the seeds in the furrows.

The issue was brought to Sood’s attention after he was tagged in a video on Twitter.


Moved by the plight of the farmer, Sood, a day after the video was posted, promised to send a pair of oxen to the family of the farmer but later changed his mind. Sharing the video, Sood said, “The family doesn’t deserve a pair of ox. They deserve a tractor. So sending you one. By evening, a tractor will be ploughing your fields. Stay blessed”.

Naidu’s tweet triggers fracas

Telugu Desam Party leader N. Chandrababu Naidu, who is also leader of the opposition, late on Sunday tagged Sood in a tweet and said, “Spoke with @SonuSood ji & applauded him for his inspiring effort to send a tractor to Nageswara Rao’s family in Chittoor District. Moved by the plight of the family, I have decided to take care of the education of the two daughters and help them pursue their dreams.”

Sonu, in his reply, responded saying, “Thank you so much sir for all the encouraging words. Your kindness will inspire everyone to come forward and help the needy. Under your guidance millions will find a way to achieve their dreams. Keep inspiring sir. I look forward meeting you soon”.

The lull that existed until Naidu’s tweet gave way to a political storm, with the ruling YSR Congress swinging into action to ‘prove’ that the family had received several benefits from government welfare schemes. Even as the brand new Sonalika tractor, with an estimated value of Rs 8.5 lakh, rolled straight up to the doorstep of Nageswara Rao, KV Palli mandal parishad development officer (MPDO) Mohan Raju visited the village on a fact-finding mission, as instructed by district collector N. Bharath Gupta.

Later, the officer told reporters, “The media reports that the family is impoverished and could not afford to engage oxen or tractor to plough the field is absolutely false. The family voluntarily did it. I was informed that the family wanted to have the experience (of pulling the plough) as a sweet memory. The family have confessed that they never expected the issue would take such a turn”.

Chintala Ramachandra Reddy, the YSR Congress MLA representing the Piler assembly segment under which Nageswara Rao’s village falls, also took to Twitter, endorsing the MPDO’s version. The tweet listed out a slew of financial benefits the family has received under government schemes.

The government’s feverish reaction is apparently intended to present a rosy picture of the situation of farmers under the chief ministership of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. The swift reaction also shows that the government is eager to prevent Naidu, who was the CM before Jagan, from capitalising on any reports of farmer distress.

But Nageswara Rao told The Wire that he is a small farmer, owning 1.85 acres of land. “I did not even cheat the government by making wrong claims…. and the benefit (tractor) which I got did not come from the government. I don’t understand why this controversy is getting flared up around me,” he lamented.

He said that the COVID-19 pandemic delivered a deadly blow to his smalltime business in Madanapalli, which is 40km away from his village. “I used to make a living by earning Rs 400 a day by running a tea stall. When the lockdown was imposed, I was forced to wind up my business and return to my village to get back to cultivation,” he said. He tried to rent a tractor to sow groundnut in one acre of his land, but could not afford the Rs 2,000 demanded by the owner. Therefore, he decided to till the land manually by engaging his daughters, Nageswara Rao said.

“We did not shoot the video intentionally to draw the attention of philanthropists. Sonu Sood’s donation was just coincidental,” Nageswara Rao explained.

Oxen disappearing

Nageswara Rao said that usually, oxen were used for tilling farmlands and drawing carts to transport farm produces. But they have not had one for nearly three decades. The price of a pair of oxen ranges between Rs 1.5-Rs 2.5 lakh, said Nageswara Rao, adding that it is out of reach for small farmers like him who hardly own 2 acres of land.

Bojja Dasaradharami Reddy, the secretary general of the Consortium of Indian Farmers Association (CIFA), explained the reason for the decreasing number of cattle in the Rayalaseema region. He said the region faces recurring drought conditions every season, which leads to an acute shortage of fodder. This has seen the near extinction of agriculture-enabled cattle in Rayalaseema, he said.

A farmer uses his oxen to till his land. Representative image. Photo: REUTERS/Vivek Prakash

Farmers retain milch animals, while bulls are sold either to slaughter houses or to draw carts for transport purpose. The tractor has literally edged oxen out of agriculture, as it performs most of the functions – tilling, sowing, seeding, harvesting and threshing – which the animals were used for, Dasaradharami Reddy said.

Rao also agreed, saying the cost of owning oxen outweigh the benefits. In the Rayalaseema region, the crops of most farmers are rainfed and do not have access to agriculture. Therefore, they depend on a single crop like groundnut for the entire year.

“Agriculture operations hardly last for two months. If we want to engage oxen for two months, we will have to feed them for the whole year, which is expensive. Instead, farmers find it viable to rent tractors,”  Nageswara Rao said.

Is Jaganmohan Reddy Serious About Ending Sand Mining in Andhra Pradesh?

While campaigning for the elections, the chief minister elect of Andhra Pradesh had promised that he would introduce a law to check illegal sand mining if he came to power.

Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, the chief minister elect of Andhra Pradesh, swept the elections with promises of a corruption-free and environmentally-friendly government.

This was in stark contrast to his predecessor,  former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, who during the last few months of his tenure saw the National Green Tribunal slap a Rs 100 crore fine for the unchecked and brazen sand mining taking place in the vicinity of his residence in Undavalli, Guntur district, on the floodplains of the Krishna river.

While campaigning for the elections, Reddy had promised that he would introduce a law to check illegal sand mining if he came to power.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi being presented a memento by YSR Congress president and Andhra Pradesh CM-designate Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, in New Delhi on May 26, 2019. Credit: PTI

This is a task he must undertake the earliest if he wants to save the rivers, in contrast to Naidu who was known to flout environmental laws with impunity. Nothing signifies such a state of affairs than Naidu’s frequent flip-flops on the entire issue of sand mining.

Naidu’s ability to overlook the nefarious activities of the sand mafia in his state has affected the stability and flow of the main rivers in the state – the Krishna, the Godavari, the Tungabhadra and the Penna. The acute water shortage being faced in the state, made worse by the prevailing heat wave conditions, could have been somewhat mitigated if the public had easy recourse to water.

Also read: Vast Amounts of Illegally Mined Atomic Mineral Found in Tamil Nadu

When Naidu came to power in 2014, one of his government’s first directives was to provide a Rs 5 lakh loan from banks to women self-help groups (SHG) in villages who would overlook the excavation and sale of sand mine. The SHGs were called Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA) and were set up to provide ‘Pedarikam Pai Gelupu’ (victory over poverty).

Some months later, in a sudden move, Naidu changed the policy and introduced a tendering system for the sale of sand. This saw several farmers and villagers file litigation cases against it in the Hyderabad high Court. Advocate Sravan Lay filed a case in 2015 in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) demanding that the revenue earned from the tendering process should be used by the state government to create a green fund that would be used to conserve the rivers.

The legal heat saw the Naidu government do another flip flop and he declared his government would sell sand free of cost to consumers. This was in March 2016. Once again, this was showcased as a policy to assist the poor in the construction of houses, as they did not have access to sand and were required to go through special people known to have close links with the party in power.

As was to be expected, this new policy began to be grossly exploited by the sand mafia, who began cornering the sand and selling it at exorbitant rates.

Water activist Satyanarayana Bolisetty said that despite the government claiming they were giving sand ‘free’ of cost, each truck of sand was being sold at black market rates that varied between Rs 6,000 and Rs 10,000. While the state suffered a loss of Rs 700 crore, individual politicians and contractors were known to have made a killing.

“Removal of large quantities of sand saw the velocity of rivers rise and this also resulted in their capacity to store water resulting in plunging ground water levels,” said Bolisetty.

Also read: How India’s Largest Beach Sand Mineral Exporter Got to Where He Is

“A strong nexus developed between contractors, bureaucrats and politicians in the sale of sand and we were witness to a ridiculous situation where large companies like L&T, Shapoorji Pallonji and NAC were being allowed to get  sand practically free of cost,” said Sravan Lay.

An open letter written to the NGT and the ministry of environment and forests by waterman Rajendra Singh, farmer and social worker from Amaravati region Anumolu Gandhi, Prof Vikram Soni and Bolisetty Satyanarayana had highlighted how sand mining was being carried out illegally near Naidu’s residence and also important government offices in Amravati.

Their letter emphasised how 2,500 truckloads of sand were being transported from the river every day as also how mechanical sand mining was being carried out without permission.

Also read: For Thane’s Sand Miners, a Life Mired in Dirty Water, Illness, Illegality

Reddy admitted to being shocked at these developments and is reported to have informed his party workers that he is determined to stop illegal sand mining.

In one of his election speeches, Satyanarayana said, Reddy said he would not hesitate to destroy the extravagant Rs 40 crore chief minister bungalow built on the Krishna flood plain as it controverted the existing law that says flood plains are sacrosanct and must be left in their pristine state.

Whether he takes such extreme measure is yet to be seen, but activists believe he must act fast against illegal sand mining. And soon.

Rashme Sehgal is an author and a freelance journalist based in Delhi.