As Minister

The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation’s (APSRTC) turnaround story speaks volumes about the dedication of Raghava Rao to achieve the targets set by Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu. Looking nothing less than swanky airports, bus stations in Andhra Pradesh underwent amazing transformation during 2014-16. Passenger amenities such as washrooms, waiting area and others wore a new, clean and classy look. Vijayawada’s Pandit Nehru Bus Station is a glaring example of how Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s vision and Raghava Rao’s hard work paid rich dividends for the citizens. For the first time ever in Andhra Pradesh, 5G Wi-Fi services were provided at the Pandit Nehru Bus Station. 84 JNNURM buses equipped with GPS service were pressed into service. An additional 30 new AC buses and 311 new services were implemented during Raghava Rao’s tenure as minister. In a first of its kind initiative, APSRTC began to explore the usage of bus stations as commercial spaces which can generate revenue for the corporation. Today, the commercial spaces are generating sizeable revenue which is being used to offset the losses accrued by the corporation.

Raghava Rao was rewarded for his hard work for the party and people with a ministerial post. He was made the Minister for Transport, Roads & Buildings – a critical responsibility because bifurcated Andhra Pradesh had a lot of catching up to do with other states in the Country in terms of infrastructure and roads development. Raghava Rao began work with a sense of purpose and urgency. His primary objective was to build necessary road infrastructure that will improve domestic connectivity for industrial and social welfare.

The R&B Department under the leadership of Raghava Rao took up roads construction in a massive scale connecting villages to towns, towns to cities and cities to other States. AP was on the road to fast development. Existing State highways were repaired, new highways were laid and CC roads were laid in thousands of villages, covering even the remotest ones. The social and economic milieu was undergoing a rapid transformation due to this brisk development. Ports, airports, tourist places and industrial hubs were being connected through 4 lanes and 6 lanes roads darting across the state. With financial support from NABARD and RDF, 5,400 kms. long roads were developed by the R&B department. A stickler for quality, Raghava Rao commissioned an Australian organisation’s help to evaluate the condition of 46,404 kms. of roads in the State with the help of advanced data procured on the ground.

Under the leadership of Raghava Rao, a detailed project report (DPR) was designed for the 186-km Amaravati Outer Ring Road (ORR), for which, the Centre had sanctioned Rs.20,000 crore. A MoU was signed at the CII Partnership Summit between the State and Centre to this effect. Because of efficient, water-tight paperwork, Raghava Rao was instrumental in getting Rs. 75,000 crore sanctioned for the six-lane national highway from Anantapur to Amaravati.

Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has always emphasized on making roads safe for all. He issued specific instructions to officials focus on road safety more than income generated by the transport department. A Road Safety Council was set up with a fund of Rs. 10 crores. While Chandrababu Naidu acted as the Council’s President, Raghava Rao was appointed as Vice-President.

Observing that many deaths due to road accidents occurred because of two-wheeler riders not wearing head protection (helmet), Raghava Rao made it mandatory for all to wear helmets. Even though citizens felt inconvenienced in the beginning, they lauded and fully supported the government’s initiative. Raghava Rao’s vision was to decrease accidents from 20% to 15% by 2020. A study was carried out to identify accident prone areas and mark them for immediate repair. The Roads department moved swiftly to repair them, thus reducing accident rate in a big way. Andhra Pradesh did tremendous progress in 2015 when Road accidents decreased by several notches.

As per directions from Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, the Transport Department under the leadership of Raghava Rao took the revolutionary step of providing 83 RTA services online, thus eliminating middlemen from the system leading to great savings for the citizens. Because of the several effective measures taken, the Transport department was able to achieve a phenomenal 40% revenue growth rate during 2015-16. Compared to Rs.1,517 Crores revenue in FY 2013-2014, AP Government collected Rs. 2,218 crores in 2015-2016.