What's wrong in changing business rules when Constitution amended many times: Andhra CM

Amaravati, Dec 10 (PTI) Calling for an overhaul of existing government business rules to improve governance, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said when the Constitution has been amended, what is wrong in changing the business rules to do good to people.

Addressing a meeting of ministers, secretaries and heads of departments at the secretariat, the chief minister emphasised that the government must be willing to make sweeping changes for the public good.

"When we have amended the Constitution itself several times in the country, what's wrong in changing the business rules to do good to people?" he asked.

He directed officials to rescind unnecessary rules and implement comprehensive change management to ease governance.

The CM called for extending efficient governance powered by technology and a data lake, and directed an audit of all departments to assess efficiency.

According to Naidu, the government possesses complete information on the performance of every officer and department.

He advised them to be cognizant of this data and ensure that they work with accountability and are answerable to people.

Naidu instructed officials to prioritise increasing people's satisfaction levels as the core measure of public service delivery.

Underscoring the importance of monitoring public service delivery at the last mile, Naidu directed the strengthening of the village and ward secretariats.

Noting that the NDA alliance government will not increase the power tariff this year, the chief minister said efforts are on to reduce the power purchase price from Rs 4.92 to Rs 4 per unit.

He said his government has reestablished the brand image of Andhra Pradesh and attracted huge investments, citing the recent CII Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam as the best example.

According to the CM, the southern state has achieved a growth rate of 12 per cent in the first quarter and 11.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2025-26, and set a target to achieve 17 per cent growth rate.

He said that the government is placing emphasis on the irrigation sector to achieve a storage capacity of 944 TMC water in various projects.

Naidu highlighted that the state government is committed to developing all the regions in the state, noting that Andhra Pradesh stands in the top place in the country with the highest number, 638, of industrial parks.

He said three economic zones, including Visakhapatnam with North Andhra and East Godavari districts, Amaravati with West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts and Tirupati with Nellore and Kurnool districts will be developed.

Underlining that all government services will be made available online by January 15 (2026), he directed the departments lagging on this front to improve their services.

Highest priority should be given to the grievance redressal system by interacting with the petitioners to increase people's satisfaction levels, he said.

Over the past 18 months, Naidu said the government was successful in improving the performance of several departments.

Citing the examples of the Endowments and Revenue departments, he said both the departments are still lagging, while Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams has improved its performance and called for similar achievement in all the temples.

Further, Naidu directed officials to negotiate with banks and financial institutions to slash interest rates on loans availed by the state.

Alleging that the 'downfall of Andhra's brand image' during the previous YSRCP government between 2019 and 2024 led to a rise in interest rates, the CM asserted that the TDP-led NDA government has managed to reverse this trend and save Rs 512 crore in 2024 and Rs 1,000 crore thus far in 2025 by rescheduling loans.

"Officials should initiate measures to save public money by reducing interest rates, by which the state can save Rs 7,000 crore on total loans," said Naidu, calling for coordination among all departments for winning people's confidence.

Expressing concern over non-utilisation of Rs 1,170 crore Central Government funds by various departments, the chief minister said that these funds should be utilized by December 20 and the utilization certificate should be dispatched to the Centre for further funds.

Reflecting on public health, he instructed officials to remain alert and initiate measures to prevent seasonal diseases and water-borne ailments.

Mandating hastening file clearance, Naidu said all departments should come under audit purview by March 2026.

Announcing that he would review various departments every three months, the CM instructed officials to act immediately to resolve issues related to farmers, crop prices, roads, employment generation, drinking water and costly essential commodities, among other guidelines. PTI STH ADB