Press Releases Archive

The Lok Satta Party today reiterated its stand that projects proposed under the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) be dispersed over three or four important centers in the three regions of the State instead of being confined to Hyderabad.

State Lok Satta Party President Katari Srinivasa Rao said in a media statement that his party has in fact welcomed the sanction of the ITIR to Hyderabad. It is opposed to locating all the projects under the ITIR in Hyderabad since such a policy will merely aggravate regional imbalances.

Mr. Srinivasa Rao was reacting to TRS President K. Chandrasekhara Rao’s allegation that Lok Satta national President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan opposed sanction of the ITIR to Hyderabad because of narrow considerations.

He said that since the proposed ITIR is to be developed over 25 years entailing an investment of Rs.2.19 lakh crore, the requisite infrastructure can be created in centers other than Hyderabad also.

Mr. Srinivasa Rao pointed out that agitations have been rocking the State for the last few years because people in different regions feel that the fruits of development have not reached them. Concentration of political, administrative and economic power in Hyderabad has resulted in uneven economic development and unrest among people.

Mr. Srinivasa Rao said wisdom lies in learning from past mistakes and added that the time has come for decentralization of not merely political power but also industrial projects.

He added the Lok Satta Party is prepared for a debate on the importance of decentralization for balanced development of the State.

While welcoming the sanction of an Information Technology Investment Region to Hyderabad, the Lok Satta Party today cautioned against repeating the past mistake of concentrating all investments in Hyderabad city.

Lok Satta Party national President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan suggested that the projects proposed under the Investment Region be spread over three or four major centers of the three regions of the State keeping in mind regional imbalances, economic inequalities and political unrest.

The sanction of the Rs.2.19-lakh crore Investment Region by the Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on September 20 will give a boost to Andhra Pradesh’s economy which in the recent past had suffered because of political uncertainty, said Dr. JP.

Dr. JP recalled that although the Union Government had in the past sanctioned two National Investment and Manufacturing Zones and a Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemicals Investment Region for Andhra Pradesh little progress has been made in their implementation. Grand announcements with a lot of fanfare have ended up in dashing the hopes of the young, unemployed in the State.

Pointing out that as many as 12 lakh students are graduating from colleges and universities in the State every year, Dr. JP said a massive effort has to be mounted to promote manufacturing and create jobs. It calls for formulation of comprehensive strategy and its immediate implementation.

Ultimately, employment creation and investments are a function of political stability and far-sighted leadership. Perpetual political unrest and law and order problems, mounting corruption in every facet of national life and decaying infrastructure especially in the power sector deter investments and job creation. All these problems have to be addressed on a war footing, Dr. JP added.