DWCRA groups will do sand mining and sale in AP

Hyderabad, Oct 27 (INN): Andhra Pradesh government has started sand mining and sale through DWCRA women on Monday, as part of Pedarikam Pai Gelupu (victory over poverty) campaign.

In this regard, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has decided that a loan of Rs 5 lakh would be given to each Village Organisation through banks for sand mining and sale.

In a meeting with APMDC, SERP and other officials, the Chief Minister said that DWCRA women should be motivated to work as if they are running their own organization. This will enable them to make the sand sale a robust business and reap profits.

Chandrababu Naidu added that eight women could be chosen from local SHGs or Village organization. They could work in two shifts, four in each shift, to monitor operations.

The Chief Minister was informed that consumers could order for sand online by registering with their Aadhar number on Mee Seva or through IKP-SERP website. The consumer can pay the amount online through a bank transaction.

He added that the consumer could be informed about the status or movement of vehicle carrying sand by continuously monitoring it through GPS tracker from the control room at the stock point centre.

Further, the Chief Minister suggested that CCTV, GPS trackers and other installations could be outsourced. This, he opined, would help the outsourcing agency monitor operations without any discrepancies. He added that timely reviews would be held to know monthly status of sale.

On the other hand, the Chief Minister suggested that an umbrella organization be formed to monitor SHG groups and offer support to them.

Of the 81 identified sand reaches in the state, sale of sand has begun in 70of them. 11 reaches (four of Odisha, one in Karnataka, four in Puducherry and two in Telangana) are inter-state sharing sites.

In a pilot project carried out in East Godavari district, 1.9 lakh cubic metres of sand has been excavated. Of this, 40,000 cubic metres has been sold and has fetched Rs2.95 crore. The Chief Minister said that 75% of this amount would be transferred to Farmers' Empowerment Corporation.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister added that district collectors would inaugurate sand reaches in their respective districts. He suggested that sand mining sale through SHGs could be publicized through ads and social media and feedback could be obtained from people.

Chief Secretary IYR Krishna Rao, Minister Peethala Sujatha, Principal Secretary (Planning) SP Tucker, Principal Secretary (industries and mining), JSV Prasad, APMDC MD Shalini Misra, director (mining department) Sushil Kumar, CEO of SERP Arun Kumar, advisor (women empowerment) Rama Lakshmi and other officials were present.