CEO of the state
Cyber Towers, a landmark of modern Hyderabad, is evidence of CBN's development of the city
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Chandrababu Naidu’s first term stretched from 1995 until 2004, when his political acumen and visionary quality came to the fore. His style of governing was more corporate than political, and he sometimes described himself as the “CEO of the state”. As a very future-oriented leader who believed in technology as the key to development, he was the driving force behind the development of Hyderabad into a cyber hub to rival Bengaluru, attracting powerful multinationals such as Microsoft and IBN. This was such a success that Time magazine named him South Asian of the Year in 2000, and published an article saying: "In just five years, he has turned an impoverished, rural backwater into India's new information-technology hub."
That meant some difficult decisions for the sake of economic reform: in the first years of his leadership, he cut food subsidies and raised power tariffs while focusing on long-term investment to bolster the crumbling state infrastructure.
The development of Hyderabad largely benefitted the more educated urban class, but other social development programmes - such as the Janmabhoomi Programme, which aimed to get local people involved in the regeneration of their areas – aimed to improve living standards for the majority who lived in rural areas. Villages and districts were encouraged to come up with ideas for projects – focusing on primary education, clean water, healthcare, and social welfare – which would then be funded and developed by the state government.
It was an experiment in increasing local good governance, and led to a great deal of improvement outside the cities. Millions of new trees were planted, while large numbers of people joined the movement to clean up garbage and improve sanitation with the goal of making each municipality “clean and green”. There was also a focus on empowering women, with microfinance schemes available to women’s groups and thousands of bicycles given away to girls who studied at government high schools.
CBN’s style is most clearly represented in his innovative decision to hold a live Q&A session once a week, “Dial Your Chief Minister”, broadcast on television and radio, giving the people of Andhra Pradesh the chance to call in and speak to him directly about any issues that concern them. It was the first time a Chief Minister had made himself so accessible to his state’s population.