Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (A.P.,) on the 12th of February, chaired a Cabinet meeting to discuss the local body elections and education in A.P.
In the Cabinet meeting, the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) approved a few amendments to the existing Panchayat Raj Act, 1992. Besides, the Cabinet also approved a bill drafted for the State Agriculture Council.
The bill is going to be introduced in the next Budget Session of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.
The A.P. Cabinet also decided to distribute three pairs of school uniforms, two pairs of shoes and books to government schools’ class I to class X students. The distribution of the mentioned items would take place as a part of the recently launched Jaganna Amma Vodi scheme.
While Jagan Mohan Reddy flew to Delhi after the meeting, Perni Venkataramaiah, a minister of the YSRCP Government, conducted a press conference and briefed the media about the Cabinet meeting.
During the press conference, Perni Venkataramaiah, popularly known as Perni Nani, said, “We have reduced the municipal elections process from 21 days to 15 days.” He also spoke about the campaign process and the punishment for irregularities and violation of rules.
Mr. Venkataramaiah said if any candidate is found with alcohol and money ahead of the local bodies’ elections to influence voters, he or she would be punished and sentenced to a jail term of three years. Moreover, the time for conducting campaigns for the elections was also reduced.
The YSRCP Minister also said, “In the event of natural disaster and water scarcity, Sarpanches are empowered to make decisions without a panchayat resolution. We have delegated the responsibility of sanitation and greenery to the sarpanch.”
The local body elections in Andhra Pradesh are scheduled to be held soon. However, an official notification regarding the election dates is yet to be released.
The major parties contesting the A.P., local body elections are the Telugu Desam Party (TDP,) the YSRCP and the alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the JanaSena Party.
