india

Updated: Jun 01, 2019 22:47 IST

Two days after taking charge as Andhra Pradesh chief minister, YS Jaganmohan Reddy has begun re-christening welfare schemes named after Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders, including party founder NT Rama Rao and current president N Chandrababu Naidu.

The schemes are being renamed after Jagan’s late father and former chief minister of combined Andhra Pradesh, YS Rajasekhar Reddy, who was called YSR by his loyalists.

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At his oath-taking ceremony itself, Jagan had announced that the pension scheme for senior citizens would from now on be called “YSR Pension Kanuka” (YSR pension gift), not “NTR Bharosa” (NTR support) as earlier. He also hiked the monthly pension of ₹2,000 by ₹250.

On Friday, Jagan reviewed implementation of the midday meal scheme and directed that it be named YSR Akshaya Patra. The previous TDP government had not given it a name. He also raised the honorarium given to midday meal workers to ₹3,000 from ₹1,000. The subsidised lunch scheme launched by the previous Naidu government will also be renamed. Under this scheme, “Anna NTR Canteen” had been opened in several districts after NT Rama Rao, who was called “anna” (elder brother) by the people. The canteens were painted yellow, the TDP colour.

On Friday, the Anna NTR Canteen at Narsaraopet in Guntur district was renamed “Rajanna Canteen”, apparently after YSR who was also called Rajanna. Although official instructions about this change in name have not yet been issued by the government, workers of Jagan’s YSR Congress party (YSRCP) chose to go ahead with it.

“The people have given us a big mandate and there is no need to keep names associated with the TDP for any of the government schemes. All of them will be renamed after our great leader Rajasekhar Reddy,” said a YSRCP leader, who did not wish to be named.