As the state is set to complete 10 years of its formation, the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, at the state Secretariat on Monday, decided to organise the celebrations on a grand scale.

It proposed to invite and felicitate Sonia Gandhi, who played a key role in the formation of the state.

Ministers Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and D. Sridhar Babu told media persons after the Cabinet meeting that in view of the model code of conduct for Lok Sabha elections, the government will write to the Election Commission of India, seeking permission to organise the celebrations.

The government also plans to felicitate all those who worked for the formation of the state.

In another major decision, the Cabinet resolved to pay a Rs 500 bonus per quintal for fine rice cultivated by farmers from the forthcoming Kharif season. It decided to encourage farmers to increase the cultivation of super-fine varieties of paddy. The Cabinet also decided to speed up the procurement of Rabi foodgrains.

District Collectors have been entrusted with full responsibility to ensure the smooth procurement from farmers.

The paddy soaked due to unseasonal rains will also be procured at Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Officials concerned have been asked to enumerate losses incurred by farmers in some parts of the state due to unseasonal rains. The ministers said the government has already purchased 35 lakh metric tonnes of grain across the state and money credited to farmers' accounts within three days. They claimed that the Congress government had set a new record by making the payments within three days.

The Cabinet decided to take strict measures to prevent the sale of spurious seeds. It directed officials to keep stocks of seeds, fertilisers and other requirements of farmers ready as the Kharif season was set to commence soon.

It approved an allocation of Rs.600 crore for improving the infrastructure of government schools. The maintenance of schools has been handed over to self-help societies through the Amma Adarsh Schools Scheme.

The Cabinet discussed issues of emergency and urgent in nature as per the direction of the Election Commission, which, on Sunday, gave a conditional nod to the Cabinet meeting. It had made it clear that issues relating to the common capital of Hyderabad and crop loan waiver shall be deferred till completion of Lok Sabha elections.

The Cabinet meeting scheduled on Saturday was postponed as permission for it was not received from the Election Commission.