Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said there should transparency in the sand policy, and ensure that it is accessible to the public with reasonable prices. It was also suggested to increase the efficiency in sand supply and quality sand. The CM predicted that if the capacity of the sand rigs was increased, large companies and the central government agencies would also seek the sand from state. He also stressed that there is no corruption in sand mining and supply of sand henceforth.
The state government has reportedly decided to discord it's new Sand Policy introduced last year and go for another one. The government is considering a proposal to give the excavation of the sand works to one or more private agencies.
Since the government could not provide sufficient sand to the consumers under the present sand policy, an alternative plan is proposed, according to highly placed sources at the Secretariat. In fact, the government has been getting huge criticism for its failure in ensuring sand in the market.
It is being reported that the Jagan government will either adopt suitable points from the policy being implemented in Telangana right now or the model which was implemented during the then Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy. Under the new proposed policy, the government will give all the sand reaches to private players through bulk auction. Government will remain as a controlling agency.
The CM held a review meeting on Monday with officials at his camp office on the new sand policy to this extent. During the meeting, the CM issued several instructions and directives to the officers and ministers. During the review, Jagan said that the transparency should be implemented in sand excavations and asserted that the challan? should be issued so that anyone can come and take the sand. "The cost should be confirmed constituency-wise or region-wise," CM said.
Jagan said that the sand should be supplied on subsidy to government structures and houses of weaker sections by giving tokens. If locals need sand, they can be given coupons and sand be supplied at a subsidized price. "We need to look at how many kilometers of sand can be supplied to villages in river basins at a subsidized rate," CM said. Referring to all these issues in the review, Jagan directed the cabinet to give a press release before finalizing the sand policy and seek the suggestions and advises of the people.