Chandrababu vs Jagan: Whose regime prioritised Road Construction?

In the matter of roads, the AP government is being heavily criticized. The TDP, Janasena and other opposition parties have been accusing the state government of not having proper roads, every time they get an opportunity. The condition of Andhra Pradesh roads is being severely trolled on social media. A post on social media detailing all these has gone viral. In this, it is reported who spent how much on roads during the respective tenures of TDP president Chandrababu and the current CM Jagan.

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While Chandrababu spent Rs 2,954 crores during his five-year rule, YS Jagan spent Rs 4,149 crores during his four-year rule. It is known that Chandrababu spent Rs 4,325 crores in five years and Jagan spent Rs 7,340 crores in four years for the construction of state roads and district main roads. While Chandrababu spent Rs 3,160 crores for the construction of Panchayat Raj roads, Jagan spent Rs 5,444 crores in four years. For the construction of national highways, Rs 14,353 crores were spent in five years of TDP while Rs 25,304 crores have been spent in the YSRCP’s four years. It is known that Chandrababu has spent Rs 24,792 crores while Jagan has spent Rs 42,236 crores for the construction and maintenance of roads. The average expenditure on road construction and maintenance was Rs 4,958 crores during Chandrababu’s five-year rule and Rs 10,559 crores during Jagan’s four-year rule. Judging by these calculations, it is clear that Jagan has spent twice as much on roads than Chandrababu.

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The YSRCP government has identified 2,294 km of roads in coastal districts to be restored with NDRF funds of Rs 768 crore, and 1,154 km of roads in non-coastal districts to be restored with Rs 352 crore RSIDF funds, in the future. 339 roads have been identified as ‘high priority’ roads.

On the other hand, the Rs 3,000 crore loan taken by the TDP in 2017-18 for the rehabilitation of roads was also diverted to their ‘Pasupu-Kunkuma’ scheme for election purposes. Due to this, it is known that the roads in the state have been completely damaged by 2019.

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Judging from these calculations, it is clear that the Jagan government has put a lot of emphasis on the construction of roads. But some are working hard and spreading bad propaganda that roads are bad in Andhra Pradesh. On the other hand, CM Jagan has ordered the officials to prepare a special app to inform about the condition and problems of roads in cities and towns as well as in rural areas. He suggested providing space in the app to review aspects like greenery, beautification, street lights, footpaths, condition of sewers and underground drainage, not just related to roads. The CM opined that with the help of continuous monitoring, problems can be solved quickly.