Economic reforms are not against the common man: Naidu

Hyderabad, Nov 6 (INN): There is a need to communicate that economic reforms are not against the common man but actually helps them.

This was stated by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu at a session in the India Economic Summit being organized by the World Economic Forum and the Confederation of Indian Industry in New Delhi on Thursday. Chandrababu Naidu was in conversation with Vikram Chandra, Presenter and Editor, NDTV.

The Chief Minister has pointed out that economic reforms create wealth and are therefore necessary. However, there is a need for the political system to respect the mandate given to them. Therefore, it becomes all the more necessary to enter into a dialogue with the people to let them know how the reforms can benefit them. Highlighting some of the initiatives that he had undertaken ever since his government took office, he stated that he had a unique challenge of building a new state as well as a new capital.

Naidu said he had set up seven missions in areas such as urban development, infrastructure development, industry and knowledge economy among others. In addition he was seeking to set up five grids in the areas of water, roads, power, gas and fibre optic networks. All of these missions and grids were designed to interconnect the state and bring the benefits of reforms to rural areas.

He pointed out that he was working in mission mode in areas such as agriculture, poverty eradication and irrigation among others.

Naidu praised the Prime Minister’s initiatives and stated that he had adopted these initiatives in Andhra Pradesh but had tweaked them to suit the conditions in the state. For example, Make in India has been tailored to make in Andhra Pradesh.

The Chief Minister stated that his government was working on taking advantage of the long coastline of Andhra Pradesh and making Andhra Pradesh a port hub and a gateway into India. Ten additional ports were being developed to augment the four existing ones. He stated that he was adopting the PPP method to develop the infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh.