The Hindu Business Line : AP Cabinet okays constitution of panel for pay revision

Briefing newspersons after the State Cabinet meeting, the State Information Minister, Mr. S. Chandra Mohan Reddy, said the PRC report will be final and there will not be any interim report. Various sections of employees were demanding the Government to constitute a new commission and this decision is a follow-up to that demand.

In a host of other decisions, the State Cabinet has identified 428 drought-affected mandals including 110 mandals now to extend additional 5 per cent rebate on bank loan terms. This was aimed at helping the farm community come out of the impact of the tough seasonal conditions. Apart from this, the State Government has constituted a committee that will seek to address various issues relating to farmers. The Government has requested the lenders to bring down the crop loan rate from 12 per cent to 9 per cent, he explained.

Apart from the ongoing housing programme, the State Cabinet has decided to construct another 90,000 weaker section houses to be constructed during 2003-2004 and has sanctioned an amount of Rs 202.50 crore for this expanded project. To complement the existing fire services network in the State, the State Government has decided to create 21 new fire stations across the State through private sector participation.

While this project would entail an investment of Rs 3.13 crore, this move is expected to save on establishment costs, Mr Reddy explained.

The other decisions include establishment of five regional forensic science laboratories - one each at Warangal, Guntur, Tirupathi, Kurnool and Nizamabad. In order to provide additional security to VIP movements, the State Cabinet approved the purchase of eight Tata Safari bullet-proof vehicles with an outlay of Rs 1.9 crore and 30 bullet-proof Ambassador cars and six cell jammers with total cost of Rs 10.10 crore. The State Cabinet has decided to allot 50 acres of land to the Agha Khan Development Network Educational Centre free of cost adjacent the proposed Hardware Park coming near the city. However, the details of the project were not yet released.

The State Government has agreed to extend Government guarantee for Rs 25 crore for AP Genco loan proposed to be raised from Vijaya Bank.

Other decisions include land allotment of 16.37 acres at Kattedan village to the Rural Electrification Corporation, 72.50 acres at Rachepalli village near Vizag to the Forest Department as a compensation package for an afforestation project and 100 acres of land to the Indian Navy to establish a wireless experimental unit and 17.47 acres in Chittoor to develop a sports facility.

Teenage Tennis star Sania Mirza was allotted a 538 sq.yards land to felicitate her for recent achievements and another 500 sq.yards site for widow of former MLA Ragya Naik, to help her construct own house in the city.

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