Rankings announced by the central government to encourage competitive spirit between the states are bringing new headaches with the tug of war between the ruling and opposition parties. The same happened in Andhra Pradesh hours after the commerce and industry ministry released the State Business Reform Action Plan Ranking on Saturday.
Soon after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that Andhra Pradesh retained the top position in ease of doing business ranking 2019, the ruling YSRCP government took no qualms to bank the opportunity. Claiming the win into their piggy, Industrial minister Gawtham Reddy released a statement going all praises for YSRCP government for topping the list.
However, things started to take a swift turn with former minister and General Secretary for TDP Nara Lokesh’s tweet on Saturday. Clarifying that the ranks were announced for the year 2018-19 i.e, during the tenure of Chandrababu Naidu, Nara Lokesh took potshots at CM Jagan for the reforms brought from the past one year.
This is an example of @ncbn’s hard work. AP again topped ‘ease of doing business’ for the year 2018-19, thanks to its effective implementation of Business Reform Action Plan – 2019. @ysjagan could have continued the good work, but he has undone all of it. Sad! pic.twitter.com/uoaWExIv8p
— Lokesh Nara #StayHomeSaveLives (@naralokesh) September 5, 2020
Soon after which social media flooded with posts over the ‘Ease Of Doing Business’ rankings. While a few recollected that the first industry policy by Jagan government was brought just a month back, many criticised state government for taking the credit.
Meanwhile, YSRCP cadre started the defence game claiming that the ranking was given for the efforts put forth by industry minister Gautham Reddy.
However, a deeper look into the statement released by the commerce and industry ministry clearly stated that the ranks were allotted considering parameters such as construction permit, labour regulation, environmental registration, access to information, land availability and single-window system in the span between 2018-19. It can be noted that YSRCP’s tenure started in July 2019.
