Tough times for new Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh

DESARAJU SURYA

Hyderabad: Barely five days into his office, cricketer-turned-Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy finds himself on a sticky wicket.

The “doosra” bowled by rebel Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy today caught Kiran off-guard, though he hasn’t lost his wicket yet.

Kiran’s stay at the crease doesn’t appear to be an easy task, now that Jagan’s followers are ready to bowl more googlies and bouncers at him.

Congress sources indicated that at least 28 MLAs have solidly pledged their support to Jagan and offered to resign while another seven to eight are also keen to follow suit.

For the record, however, Jagan appealed to Congress MLAs not to quit their posts “for me.”

“Wherever you are, your love and affection are enough for me. Please do not resign from your posts for me,” Jagan appealed in the open letter he addressed to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

In reality, however, Jagan is all set to split the Congress and dislodge the Kiran Kumar Reddy government, his campers aver.

“Wait for two more days and see what happens,” said a first-time MLA and Jagan loyalist, who interestingly camped in New Delhi in the last three days lobbying for a Cabinet berth.

The Jagan camp claims at least four members of Lok Sabha, 36 MLAs and half-a-dozen members of Legislative Council are now behind Jagan. “Four to five MLAs from Praja Rajyam Party will also join hands with us soon,” the rebel leader’s campers claim.

Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, upon his return from New Delhi, discussed the fallout of Jagan’s resignation with several former ministers and MLAs at the Lake View Guest House. Anxiety was writ large on the legislators’ face as they discussed Jagan’s resignation.

“If the Jagan group’s claim of having the support of 35-36 MLAs is true, Kiran’s government will certainly be in soup. The numbers will not add up even if the Praja Rajyam Party (18 MLAs) and the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (seven MLAs) support the government. In the event, the 11-member Telangana Rashtra Samiti’s support becomes inevitable,” a former minister and senior MLA analysed.

The TRS will support the Congress only if statehood is granted for Telangana. This is unlikely in the prevailing circumstances.

It is still unclear if the four MPs, including Union Minister of State A Sai Pratap (Rajampet), Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy (Nellore), Undavalli Arunkumar (Rajahmundry) and Sabbam Hari (Anakapalle), who are sworn loyalists of Jagan, too will step down in solidarity with him. Jagan campers maintain that there was “no need” for the MPs to resign.

Microfinance Institutions' dubious ploy!

DESARAJU SURYA

Hyderabad: Having been caught on the wrong side of the law for adopting “illegal and inhuman business practices” in Andhra Pradesh, the microfinance institutions (MFIs) are now trying to “legitimize” their activities by seeking to join hands with the state government “to provide sustainable financial services to poor women” even as the Union Finance Ministry is said to be keen on involving the money-lending agencies in the government’s anti-poverty programmes. Though the Government of India has not taken a formal decision in this regard yet, it has informally sounded the state governments much before the current controversy involving the MFIs broke out in Andhra Pradesh, highly-placed official sources said. “In fact, such a proposal first came from the external funding agencies like World Bank and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The World Bank and the IFAD recommended to the states, which have been borrowing money from them, to involve MFIs in poverty reduction programmes. The Government of India is probably trying to implement the World Bank agenda,” a top bureaucrat pointed out. But, IAS officer V P Jauhari, who retired as Special Chief Secretary to government and led an inquiry into the activities of MFIs in the state, cautioned in his report against involving MFIs in government programmes. In fact, he suggested that the state government alert the Government of India as well as the Reserve Bank of India about the “illegal and unethical practices” being adopted by the MFIs. “This will help other states learn from the sad experiences of AP,” he added. It was during former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s tenure that the World Bank first came up with the proposal when the state government was desperately seeking funds from the Bank for the ambitious Jalayagnam (irrigation projects) programme. “Andhra Pradesh is one of the major borrowers from the World Bank. One of the recommendations, apart from a few pre-conditions of the World Bank, was enhancing the role of MFIs in rural credit distribution and their involvement in government programmes. Though the government did not concede the demand immediately for involving the MFIs in its programmes, it did help them expand their operations rapidly in the last few years,” the bureaucrat said. Micro Finance Institutions Network president Vijay Mahajan wrote a letter to the state Principal Secretary (Rural Development) R Subrahmanyam promising to “extend all cooperation to the Government of Andhra Pradesh’s efforts to provide credit to rural poor women.” One of the proposals mooted by the MFIN is the establishment of a state-wide health insurance programme in concert with the state government’s Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty. “This programme will be complementary to the Rajiv Aarogyasri health insurance scheme (of the state government),” Vijay Mahajan said in the letter. Official sources said the government has not yet taken a decision in this regard. “We are considering the proposals put forth by MFIN but our main focus now is on regulating the MFIs’ activities and rescuing the hapless borrowers,” a senior official of the Rural Development Department said.