Andhra Pradesh, led by chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, has stood as No. 1 in the country in terms of inclusive development, that is extending welfare to all sections of people in the state, while it has positioned itself as No. 6 in the country in terms of overall performance, compared to all the other states.
This was revealed in the State of the States survey conducted by popular English magazine India Today for the year 2021 in its latest issue.
The survey revealed how, in a year ravaged by pandemic, some states have overcome the adversity better than the others. The issue has hit the stands on Monday.
Tamil Nadu retained its No. 1 position in the overall performance in various fields for the fourth consecutive year. It has been maintaining the position since 2018.
Himachal Pradesh also has retained its No. 2 position, which it has been holding for the last three years. It is followed by Kerala, Gujarat and Punjab.
And Andhra Pradesh, which was in seventh position last year, has improved its rank this year to sixth in the overall performance. In fact, its position has been improving every year – during the Chandrababu Naidu regime in 2018, it was in 10th position; in 2019, its rank has gone up 8 and in 2020, it moved to seventh position.
Telangana, whose rank has been fluctuating between 9 and 10 in the last three years, has now moved to seventh position after Andhra Pradesh, in overall performance.
However, Andhra Pradesh stood in the No. 1 position among the big states in the country in terms of inclusive development, by implementing welfare schemes on saturation mode. A chapter on this sector says under Jagan Mohan Reddy, welfare - centric measures with a human touch have overriding priority over every other endeavour in governance.
The state boasts offtake of 114.7 per cent in 2020-¬21 through the public distribution system (PDS), surpassing all other states. The PDS offering is symptomatic of what the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress focuses on—a saturation concept offering a slew of all¬-encompassing welfare schemes targeting almost every disadvantaged group in society.
“Reddy’s goal is a higher score on the human development index than other states by the time he completes his first term in May 2024. Education, health and women’s empowerment are among the key focus areas. The direct benefit transfer (DBT) schemes now have 37,206,852 beneficiaries with an investment of Rs 28,854 crore in 2021¬-22 so far,” the report said.
Mothers play a pivotal role, especially in education initiatives. The Jagananna Amma Vodi scheme for poor and needy mothers to educate their children from Class 1 to the Plus Two intermediate level, and the Jagananna Vidya Deevena (JVD), for them to pursue higher education, has money credited directly to the mother’s account, the report added.
