Andhra Pradesh Government clears Rs 302 cr dues of school works

Vijayawada: The state government on Wednesday released Rs 302 crore to clear the pending bills related to the Mana Badi: Nadu-Nedu Phase-1 programme, paving the way for taking up the second phase works.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy "dedicated" the revamped schools to the students and also launched the second phase works on August 16, 2021. Contractors did not show interest to take up the phase-2 works as payments for the works done under the first phase were not made. Under the ambitious flagship programme 'Mana Badi: Nadu-Nedu' (our school, then and now), the state government proposed to refurbish over 16,368 schools at a cost of Rs 4,535 crore. Now that the government released money to clear the old dues, the school education department is hopeful that it could kick-start the next phase works soon so as to meet the target by August this year.

Nabard has agreed to extend a loan of Rs 2,000 crore for the second phase works while World Bank is expected to chip in another Rs 300 crore, official sources said.