Chandrababu Naidu was the Chief Minister of our state from the year 1995 to 2004. In his tenure Chandrababu Naidu had been very efficient and delivered an effective administration to the people. I was a great admirer of his then for his effective deliverance of administration.
The tasks undertaken by Chandarbabu Nidu were numerous and I am giving the important ones below. I did not refer anywhere for these and just went on putting down what came to my mind and what I observed in the state then:
Development of an IT hub in the state: It was he who has developed Hyderabad into an IT hub and it stands today as one of the preferred destinations in India for delivery of IT services. I have seen the unbelievable transformation before my very eyes.
Power Reforms and efficiency: Under the Congress governments before him the power supply position deteriorated and power cuts became rampant. His predecessor and father in law N T Ramarao was more intent on providing social security to the poorer sections of the society but was not a good administrator. When Naidu came in as CM, the electricity board was mired in losses. He split the board into different corporations and improved the administration so that under him not only did the corporations prosper but the power situation improved drastically in the state and the power cuts were forgotten. The state had become number 1 in India in the adoption of power reforms.
Women Empowerment: To empower women he has aggressively supported DWCRA societies launched by the Central Government which self employment to women and access to basic services were provided.
Providing vegetables at reasonable prices: He has started what are known as Rythu(farmer) bazaars where the vegetables produced in the farms are directly marketed to the consumer by farmers themselves. These bazaars provided vegetables at a cheaper rate to the consumers and also benefited the farmers to some extent by cutting down on middlemen.
Improving the level of Government services to people by outsourcing: He has started the E Seva centres in the state where bills of the Government departments etc. can be paid without waiting in long queues. These days they are taking up more and more of the services being provided by the government employees to the public.
Improving the level of public transport: He has drastically improved the position of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation and refurbished it with new buses for comfortable travel.
Improvement of Roads: He has developed the roads system in the state drastically and they were maintained in excellent condition in contrast to the times of the Congress regime.
Disciplining State Govt. Employees: He has disciplined the unruly state government employees and instilled in them the fear that the Government is watching them and it could not be taken for granted.
Empowerment of the people with regard to Government servants: This is a striking reform where the people were given the power to question state government employees publicly in what is known as the Gram Sabha. This has made the government servants accountable to the people and they were being pulled up by the people openly in the public. This made the employees accountable to the people.
Development of Industry: He laid the red carpet for Industry and was very investor friendly. He called himself as the CEO of the state rather than its CM.
After all this development, why did the people not vote for Naidu in 2004? The Government employees were terribly unhappy with him because he made them work and made them answerable to the people. In the 2009 state elections each government employee did his/her best to sabotage his chances. Another problem was that the farmers felt he was too industry friendly and was neglecting them. Due to these two groups he was defeated in the last elections.
So what does he promise now? He now wants power so much that he has diametrically turned against his own older policy and is wooing the 2 sections that have voted him out in the last elections.
He now says that he will write off all agricultural loans which is impossible as the amount written off would be equal to two thirds GDP of the state.
He said that he would make a 5 day week for the Government employees and has indicated in his statements that he would not touch them now despite whatever they do. After this my admiration to him has evaporated.
Now I am in a dilemma as to whom to vote because Jagan would be worse and he has so many economic offences against him. Even the Congress is better compared to Jagan. The choice for me is now between the devil and the deep sea.
