02-23-2005, 02:31 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>World Bank knew why Chandrababu Naidu lost</b>
Monday February 21 2005 08:22 IST IANS
NEW DELHI: Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu may have been the poster boy of India's new economy and reform brigade at one time, but the World Bank knew all along that the image was a facade.
A report prepared by the bank points out how the reforms-friendly Naidu regime was no different from previous governments in Andhra Pradesh and negates all claims made by Naidu about dramatically improving the state's economy and infrastructure.
"Higher productivity and growth are not just about more investment, bigger infrastructure projects, tallest buildings, longest roads, finest flyovers and highest viaducts," the bank said in the highly critical report prepared in 2003.
The report, in the possession of IANS, found major failings in Naidu's Vision 2020 that sought to turn the primarily agrarian state into a knowledge-intensive one with IT and biotechnology envisaged as engines of growth.
"He (Naidu) stopped the World Bank from releasing the report before the general election in April-May 2004 because it was highly critical of his tenure," a bank official told IANS, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was handed a humiliating defeat in the polls after ruling Andhra Pradesh for a decade and the Congress party returned to power in the state.
While Naidu was focussing on making the state a cutting edge e-governance destination, the report said its agriculture sector was witnessing a decline in investment but did not give any figures to substantiate its findings.
And the yields from agricultural land had dwindled due to widespread informal tenancy arrangements, said the report "Unlocking the Growth Opportunities in Andhra Pradesh".
"Achieving the Vision 2020 growth targets would also involve a change in mindset," the report said, alluding to Naidu's fixation with IT and emerging technologies.
The report was finally released in August 2004, three months after Naidu lost the polls after nearly nine years as chief minister.
"The growth rate of Andhra Pradesh in the post-reform period has not been much different from what it was in the pre-reform period," the report said.
Though the gross state domestic product (GSDP) growth rate increased marginally from an annual 3.9 percent in the 1980s to 4.1 percent during the 1990s, the increase was not due to any improvements in real GSDP growth.
<b>"But it was due to a rapid decline in the population growth rate,"</b> the report said.
"It was precisely due to the reason that the report went against him in almost every aspect of governance that Naidu tried to defer its release until after the elections," the World Bank official said.
"While it (the state) is a constant fixture on the international investment circuits, at the same time, it is also home to the last Maoist," the World Bank report said, drawing attention to extremist problems that plague Andhra Pradesh.
Other problems were an uprising by farmers, labour unrest, ethnic violence and a political movement for dividing Andhra Pradesh to create a separate Telangana state.
<b>While the TDP opposed the division of the state, the World Bank hinted the demand for creation of Telangana was justified.</b> [<i>Who are they to justify, why do they care?, It is India's internal issue</i>].
"In terms of irrigation, Telangana lags substantially behind both south coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalseema.
"Telangana districts also have significantly lower access to public services like schools or financial institutions, resulting in lower literacy rate or worse availability of bank credit compared to the rest of the state," it said.
This finding was in sharp contrast to Naidu's claim of providing better amenities to the people of Telangana, a region that lies in the northwest corner of the state.
The report also had a piece of advice for Naidu which had he heeded probably would have turned the tables in his favour.
"While the so-called hardwares (infrastructure) are important for growth, it also involves creation of a favourable investment climate that nurtures innovations and entrepreneurship, a competitive and predictable environment and good institutions.
"Besides the state needs independent regulators, transparent rules and a responsive and honest government that works for all its citizens. In short, what Andhra Pradesh needs is an effective software to complement the hardwares."
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?I...tle=South\
ern+News+%2D+Andhra+Pradesh&Topic=0&<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Monday February 21 2005 08:22 IST IANS
NEW DELHI: Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu may have been the poster boy of India's new economy and reform brigade at one time, but the World Bank knew all along that the image was a facade.
A report prepared by the bank points out how the reforms-friendly Naidu regime was no different from previous governments in Andhra Pradesh and negates all claims made by Naidu about dramatically improving the state's economy and infrastructure.
"Higher productivity and growth are not just about more investment, bigger infrastructure projects, tallest buildings, longest roads, finest flyovers and highest viaducts," the bank said in the highly critical report prepared in 2003.
The report, in the possession of IANS, found major failings in Naidu's Vision 2020 that sought to turn the primarily agrarian state into a knowledge-intensive one with IT and biotechnology envisaged as engines of growth.
"He (Naidu) stopped the World Bank from releasing the report before the general election in April-May 2004 because it was highly critical of his tenure," a bank official told IANS, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was handed a humiliating defeat in the polls after ruling Andhra Pradesh for a decade and the Congress party returned to power in the state.
While Naidu was focussing on making the state a cutting edge e-governance destination, the report said its agriculture sector was witnessing a decline in investment but did not give any figures to substantiate its findings.
And the yields from agricultural land had dwindled due to widespread informal tenancy arrangements, said the report "Unlocking the Growth Opportunities in Andhra Pradesh".
"Achieving the Vision 2020 growth targets would also involve a change in mindset," the report said, alluding to Naidu's fixation with IT and emerging technologies.
The report was finally released in August 2004, three months after Naidu lost the polls after nearly nine years as chief minister.
"The growth rate of Andhra Pradesh in the post-reform period has not been much different from what it was in the pre-reform period," the report said.
Though the gross state domestic product (GSDP) growth rate increased marginally from an annual 3.9 percent in the 1980s to 4.1 percent during the 1990s, the increase was not due to any improvements in real GSDP growth.
<b>"But it was due to a rapid decline in the population growth rate,"</b> the report said.
"It was precisely due to the reason that the report went against him in almost every aspect of governance that Naidu tried to defer its release until after the elections," the World Bank official said.
"While it (the state) is a constant fixture on the international investment circuits, at the same time, it is also home to the last Maoist," the World Bank report said, drawing attention to extremist problems that plague Andhra Pradesh.
Other problems were an uprising by farmers, labour unrest, ethnic violence and a political movement for dividing Andhra Pradesh to create a separate Telangana state.
<b>While the TDP opposed the division of the state, the World Bank hinted the demand for creation of Telangana was justified.</b> [<i>Who are they to justify, why do they care?, It is India's internal issue</i>].
"In terms of irrigation, Telangana lags substantially behind both south coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalseema.
"Telangana districts also have significantly lower access to public services like schools or financial institutions, resulting in lower literacy rate or worse availability of bank credit compared to the rest of the state," it said.
This finding was in sharp contrast to Naidu's claim of providing better amenities to the people of Telangana, a region that lies in the northwest corner of the state.
The report also had a piece of advice for Naidu which had he heeded probably would have turned the tables in his favour.
"While the so-called hardwares (infrastructure) are important for growth, it also involves creation of a favourable investment climate that nurtures innovations and entrepreneurship, a competitive and predictable environment and good institutions.
"Besides the state needs independent regulators, transparent rules and a responsive and honest government that works for all its citizens. In short, what Andhra Pradesh needs is an effective software to complement the hardwares."
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?I...tle=South\
ern+News+%2D+Andhra+Pradesh&Topic=0&<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->