One of the biggest reasons why the NDA coalition in Andhra Pradesh led by the triumvirate of TDP, Janasena and BJP swept the recent assembly polls with a resounding mandate was due to the popular election promises made in the ambitious manifesto. TDP supremo and now Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu pitched in ‘Super Six’ agenda and assured to implement all freebies promised during his election campaign. The manifesto gained immense traction in the public and resulted in one sided election.
Five months after coming to power, the new government appears to have gained control of the state finances and started implementing the doles one by one. Recently, the government has launched the Deepam scheme which promised three gas cylinders per year to white card holders all over the state. The scheme was rolled out as a Diwali treat.
Now, the government is aiming to implement its next promise very soon. As per reports, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is likely to roll out the much awaited ‘free RTC bus travel for women’ scheme by Sankranti. This is one of the biggest promises made by the NDA coalition before the elections and the move was perceived as an inspiration from the ruling dispensation in the neighbouring Telangana state. As the state cabinet is set to meet on November 6th, there are speculations that the Chief Minister and his Ministers might take a decision on the launch of this highly anticipated scheme.
Ministers BC Janardhan Reddy, Kollu Ravindra and Ramprasad Reddy announced that the free bus travel scheme would be implemented from Sankranti all over the state. Sources said APSRTC officials have prepared a blueprint for its implementation. Last month officials of the state government visited Telangana and Karnataka, where this scheme was implemented by those state units. They studied the modalities adopted by the two governments. As of now, APSRTC receives an average of `500 crore per month in revenue through tickets. Of this, up to `220 crore is spent on diesel.
APSRTC pays an average of 125 crore (25 per cent) of the revenue per month to the government. Now, the government has to give up this amount and should give another `250 crore to RTC for the free travel scheme. This would mean the state will have to bear a burden of `375crore per month from implementation of this election promise. The YSRC government had merged RTC into the government. Thereafter, the government is paying the salaries of the RTC employees.
Soon after coming to power, Naidu’s government hiked the social security pension to 4000 at a single stroke and implemented the first promise. Recently, the three gas cylinders scheme also was rolled. As there is immense pressure on the the new government to fulfil its promises, Naidu is making sure that the state finances are improved to roll out one scheme after another.