Scrapping the controversial Land Titling Act, sanctioning teacher recruitment and skill census, increasing social welfare pensions, and reviving Anna canteens — these are the five key decisions that Telugu Desam Party’s N. Chandrababu Naidu took Thursday evening after he took charge as the state’s chief minister for the fourth time.
Significantly, his first act as CM was to scrap the highly controversial Land Titling Act, enacted by the previous Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government. This legislation had become a major election issue in the assembly polls, with Naidu’s TDP alleging that it could be misused to grab or entangle immovable properties that did not have the requisite documentation — including ancestral lands — in endless litigations.
Naidu also signed files related to these at the Amaravati Secretariat — giving his stamp of approval to implement some of the promises he made during his election campaign. These decisions are to be implemented immediately.
As priests chanted hymns, Naidu, with his wife Bhuvaneswari beside him, took charge in a special chamber in Block 1 of the Secretariat after 4:45 pm.
The second file pertained to recruitment for 16,347 teacher posts under the District Selection Committee. He also approved proposals to increase social welfare pensions to Rs 4,000/month, conducting skill census among youth and reviving the ‘Anna’ canteens.
A flagship initiative under the previous Naidu government, breakfast at the Anna canteen cost Rs 5/plate while other meals cost between Rs 5 and Rs 15/plate. The YSR government scrapped the programme after it came to power.
Before he took charge as CM, Naidu visited the Lord Venkateshwara temple at Tirumala and the Sri Druga temple at Vijayawada to offer his prayers before heading to Amaravati.
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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu takes part in a prayer ceremony before taking charge at his office at Tadepalli, Amaravati. (PTI Photo)
Besides Naidu, 24 ministers, including Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan and the CM’s son Nara Lokesh Naidu — a first-time MLA — were also sworn in Wednesday. Although the official announcement is still awaited, Pawan Kalyan is likely to be made deputy CM.
Later in the evening, Naidu went into a huddle with allies such as BJP and JSP to discuss portfolio allocation.
