The Hindu Business Line : AP to set up 3 new universities

Announcing this at a press conference today, the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, said these would come up near Nizamabad, Kadapa and Rajahmundry respectively.

Setting up each university would involve an investment of about Rs 100 crore over a five-year period. These universities apart from regulating large number of colleges that have come up the State over the last few years, would also seek ways to part-support their funding. That means, they may charge the students part amount, but this does not mean students would be burdened with additional fees.

Dr Reddy said: "It has been 20 years since a new university had come up in the State and it was felt that these universities apart from providing quality education, would also regulate the colleges that have come up in the recent years. Typically, under a university, about 100 colleges is fine, but in the case of Osmania University, there are about 491 colleges, Andhra University (382), Venkateswara University (195), Kakatiya (237) and Nagarjuna (260). These universities will partly ease the burden of the existing universities."

Answering queries about the spat on free power with former Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, Dr Reddy said: "The Congress Government was determined to provide free power and the current focus to provide this can be traced back to the election promise in 1999. If free power were to be provided by the Naidu Government, we would not have been witness to so many farmer suicide deaths."

On January 1, the Government would initiate work on Jhanjhawati project, which has been languishing for last 25 years. The work on this project is aimed at bringing a large area under cultivation.

As assured by the Congress Government, Dr Reddy, while conveying his New Year greetings to people and assuring "Indiramma rajyam", said eight irrigation projects would be completed by 2006 and 11 more would be taken up. This will broaden the impact on the agriculture sector that was neglected over the last decade.