HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet on Monday decided to constitute a new district development fund (DDF) and spend a sum of Rs. 50 lakh for each Assembly constituency under the supervision of the Minister in-charge of the district. This amount is in addition to Rs. 50 lakh already earmarked for each segment under the Assembly Constituency Development Fund (ACDF). In effect, a sum of Rs. 1crore will be available for each of the 294 Assembly constituencies to be spent at the discretion of the MLA and the district Minister in-charge.

Denying that this decision was taken with an eye on panchayat elections, Information Minister Mohd. Ali Shabbir told reporters that the DDF was not new and it existed when the Congress was in power earlier. The Cabinet resolved that money available in the DDF must be used to create assets such as roads and school buildings.

Few demands conceded

Conceding a few demands of junior doctors, the Cabinet decided to introduce residency system in all the 10 Government medical colleges by creating 600 posts of resident doctor at an annual expenditure of Rs. 21 crore. Also, it sanctioned Rs. 1 crore for each college for constructing hostel buildings.

Being in line with the best practices adopted by the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), these measures were aimed at improving the quality of medical education. Those completing post-graduate medical degrees would now stay in hostel and render medical service round the clock. Reviewing the power situation, the Cabinet did not accept the farmers' demand for power supply beyond seven hours in a single spell and during daytime. However, it decided to compensate farmers for the loss suffered due to breakdowns by supplying power for as much time. Noting that capacitors had been installed on only 30 per cent of the pump sets so far, the Cabinet, however, decided not to extend the deadline.

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