CM says his govt defied World Bank conditionalities

Hyderabad, Apr 28 (UNI)Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today claimed that unlike the erstwhile TDP government, his government defied the World Bank conditionalities and was providing free power to farmers.

Dr Reddy, who completed two years in office spoke to the electronic media at the secretariat and was replying to a question as to how his government was different from the TDP government.

Stating that his government was not against the World Bank as their lending rate was lowest, Dr Reddy, however, said if some of the Bank's policies were against the policies of the state government towards the poor, his government opposed such policies.

Dr Reddy said he would go for cabinet expansion after the ensuing Panchayat elections.

He said legally the state could have 44 ministers and he was thinking of expanding the cabinet to the extent necessary after the panchayat elections.

On the statement of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) Chief and Union Labour Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao that UPA Chairperson Ms Sonia Gandhi had assured that Telangana would be a reality within 40 days, Dr Reddy said he was not aware of any such assurance from Ms Gandhi. Asking if Ms Gandhi had ever given any such assurance to the media, he said it was upto Mr Rao to answer this question.

UNI JRK VV PAG1735