Chandrababu Naidu proposes Indian School of Agriculture at collectors’ conference
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu proposed establishing an Indian School of Agriculture to strengthen the sector while addressing the District Collectors’ Conference. He also set governance targets and reviewed welfare schemes, irrigation plans and innovation initiatives
Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday proposed establishing an ‘Indian School of Agriculture’ to strengthen the sector while reviewing governance priorities with district collectors.
Addressing the sixth District Collectors’ Conference here, the chief minister suggested setting up a premier agricultural institution on the lines of the Indian School of Business.
“Let us encourage agriculture. There is a need to establish a strong system for agriculture on the lines of IT, AI and quantum labs. On the lines of the Indian School of Business, let us establish a system called the Indian School of Agriculture,” said Naidu.
He said agriculture requires institutional support similar to that of technology sectors and stressed the need to build a robust system to promote innovation and productivity in farming.
Naidu also set targets for collectors on governance and welfare delivery, directing officials to ensure large-scale publicity of welfare and development programmes among the public.
He noted that the government has been reviewing governance issues every three months and is attempting to balance welfare, development and good governance despite limited resources.
Naidu said significant governance changes were introduced during the past 20 months and stressed that policies introduced by the government would have a long-term impact.
The Chief Minister observed that the administration has moved away from the earlier practice of sitting in offices and writing files, shifting towards a virtual working system.
He emphasised that the targets fixed by the government should be implemented effectively at the grassroots level and that there should be no negligence in execution.
Calling for wider outreach of flagship initiatives, Naidu said welfare programmes, including the ‘Super Six’ schemes, should be brought closer to people with complete transparency.
The CM announced that the third instalment of the ‘Annadata Sukhibhava’ (which offers Rs 20,000 per annum to farmers) scheme will be implemented on March 13.
According to him, the state will deposit its share, along with the funds provided by the Centre, directly into farmers’ accounts.
Naidu also urged farmer associations, irrigation associations and primary cooperative societies to effectively take forward the ‘Rythanna Meekosam’ (for farmers) programme.
He said water will be released on May 15 for Kharif cultivation.
The chief minister further announced that collective housewarming ceremonies will be conducted for 2.5 lakh beneficiaries as an Ugadi gift under the welfare housing programme.
Naidu also said free travel in RTC buses for persons with disabilities has been introduced under the ‘Indra Dhanussu’ scheme.
He also said the government implemented ‘True Down’ in electricity charges for the first time, bearing a burden of Rs 4,600 crore, and that the power purchase price will be reduced by 39 paise this year.
He also noted that under the ‘One Family, One Entrepreneur’ initiative, about 1.1 lakh women have already become micro-entrepreneurs, adding that the government has set a target of creating five lakh entrepreneurs by next year.
The CM said the state should aim to establish one startup for every thousand people by 2047, encouraging a strong culture of innovation and enterprise.
Highlighting the importance of technology in agriculture, Naidu said the government is taking steps to introduce AI Agronomist services and directed officials to ensure that these services reach farmers across the state.
He said groundwater levels across the state have increased by over 1.8 metres over the past two months and stood at 8.1 metres on March 1, and that this improvement would help reduce the government’s burden of Rs 14,000 crore power subsidy.
Water conservation measures, such as desilting of canals and linking tanks under the ‘No Submergence’ policy, should be undertaken for 90 days from April 1, he said.
The CM said 614 TMC of water is currently available in reservoirs, adding that plans are being prepared to advance the cultivation season in the coming financial year.
Noting that the Veligonda irrigation project will be completed by July, Naidu also said power generation should be developed as a source of income.
Naidu stressed the need to resolve land-related issues and said the government aims to make Andhra Pradesh free of land disputes by March 2027. “The petition culture should be reduced by resolving issues at the appropriate level and ensuring transparency in land records,” he added.
According to him, placing all relevant information on government portals would help minimise disputes and improve accountability.
He further directed officials to resolve issues through the Public Grievance Redressal System (PGRS). He observed that around 70 per cent of public problems would be resolved if land disputes were eliminated.
