Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday said people’s satisfaction is the barometer of officials’ performance, emphasising that he will not bank on metrics and promised to undertake surprise inspections.
Addressing the concluding day of the fifth district collectors meeting at the secretariat, in which he brainstormed on a plethora of issues, the Chief Minister decided to implement a welfare calendar from April next year.
“I will not believe in metrics. People’s satisfaction is the barometer of officials’ performance,” Naidu said, advising officials to expend Central funds and focus on obtaining Rs 5,000 crore additional allocation.
The TDP supremo directed the collectors and superintendents of police not to spare political interference in land disputes.
Directing the collectors to only courier pattadar passbooks and registration documents to owners henceforth, he promised issuing family cards and population management policy by Ugadi festival.
As part of zero suicides target, Naidu said counselling sessions should be offered for farmers, students and families going through pressure.
Naidu observed that entities executing contract works in state should not buy fuel and machinery in other states, calling for measures from officials to this end.
Reflecting on law and order, he said the rate of conviction should rise and the rate of crime should fall, adding that Police should expel notorious criminals from the state.
He advised officials not to harass people with unnecessary challans (penalties) and act against those indulging in personal attacks and fake propaganda on social media.
Reacting to opposition leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s warning that he will imprison the people who come forward to build medical colleges under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode, Naidu said these remarks demonstrate political ignorance.
Observing that PPP contributes to development, he noted that though projects are executed under this mode they will continue to remain government assets.
According to the CM, power utilities in the state are burdened with a debt of over Rs 1.14 lakh crore. But he noted that the TDP-led NDA government had reduced power tariffs by Rs 11,320 crore.
“We announced that we will not raise power tariffs. We will not put the burden on people,” said Naidu.
Alleging that the erstwhile YSRCP government had availed loans at an interest rate of 13 percent, he said this compelled the NDA alliance government to reschedule them.
Noting that the government has managed to control the inflation rate over the past 18 months, Naidu observed that he did expect that the state will recover, among other observations.
Further, Naidu highlighted that the collectors conference reviewed progress and reflected on key areas to further strengthen governance.
“Accountability to the people is central to our responsibility, and service to them is our foremost duty. Collectors are the brand ambassadors of the government, and I encouraged them to lead by example and continue working with commitment to improve the lives of citizens,” said Naidu in a post on X.
He instructed district collectors to come up with innovative ideas incorporating technology to implement the best practice for achieving results.
The chief minister directed the senior officials to implement ‘Mustabu’, a personal hygiene programme introduced among tribal students in Parvatipuram Manyam district, in all educational institutions.
“Come up with innovative ideas using technology for implementing best practices to get results,” said Naidu, appreciating the ‘Mustabu’ programme implemented by Parvatipuram Manyam district collector Prabhakar Reddy.
According to the CM, implementing ‘Mustabu’ will leave a huge impact on the personal hygiene of people.
If the programme is implemented in all educational institutions up to class 12 across the state, the CM said nearly 80 lakh students will benefit. They will insist on their parents to maintain personal hygiene, influencing over two crore people in the state.
Such innovative ideas with no financial commitment will leave a huge impact on society and help improve people’s health, he added, calling for ‘Mustabu’ implementation from December 28.
DGP Harish Kumar Gupta informed the conference that the crime rate fell by 5.5 percent in the state, including a substantial drop in crimes against women.
Sourabh Gaur, secretary, Health, Medical & Family Welfare Department flagged Andhra Pradesh’s declining Total Fertility Rate (TFR), which stands at 1.5, well below the replacement level of 2.1, placing it on a trajectory similar to developed economies facing a demographic crisis.
He said the state is ageing faster than the country, with a median age of 32.5 years compared to the national average of 28.4 years.
AP has the demographic window only until 2040 to make amends before the dependency ratio skews heavily towards the elderly population, he said.
Considering this reality, Gaur said the third guiding principle among the 10 SwarnaAndhra@2047 vision principles is focused on a transformative approach to population management and human resource development.
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