By IANS,
Hyderabad : Allaying apprehensions over the future of welfare schemes launched by his predecessor Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah Sunday said the schemes would continue despite the problems.
He told reporters that the government will neither roll back the schemes nor dilute them. “Some problems may be there but under no circumstances we will dilute the schemes,” he said.
His statement came amid growing war of words in the ruling Congress party over numerous welfare schemes launched by Rajasekhara Reddy, who was popularly known as YSR.
While admitting that there are delays in release of funds for schemes like students scholarships, Rosaiah said this did not mean the government is doing away with the schemes or diluting them.
“Ever since I took over as chief minister Sep 3 last year following the tragic death of Rajasekhara Reddy, I never changed my tone (on the schemes),” he said.
Critics of the late chief minister within the Congress are blaming his welfare schemes for the financial crisis being faced by the state. His loyalists, however, are defending the schemes, saying it helped the Congress retain power last year.
Senior Congress legislator J.C. Diwakar Reddy Friday triggered a row by calling for a review of the welfare schemes initiated by YSR on the ground that the state’s financial position was precarious.
YSR’s loyalists among state ministers hit out at Diwakar Reddy, considered close to Rosaiah, and said they would not keep quiet if any attempt was made to dilute the welfare schemes.
Three legislators even asserted that they will not spare Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh if the welfare schemes launched by YSR are not properly implemented.
Free electricity to farmers, fee reimbursement of students belonging to weaker sections of society, loans to women and farmers at very low interest rate, Rs.2-a-kg rice and free treatment of poor patients in corporate hospitals were some of the popular schemes launched by YSR after he became the chief minister in 2004.
YSR, who led the Congress to its second successive electoral victory last year, died in a helicopter crash Sep 2.