How Can You Be Blind To The Future Of Students, Chandrababu? 

Ganti, East Godavari District: Father’s Day is being celebrated across the world and on this occasion, I remembered my father, the late Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy, who was a tremendous source of inspiration to millions of people. It is with the thought of walking in his illustrious footsteps and carrying his work forward, that I began my Padayatra today. The spirit of his values motivates and drives me forward, hour after hour.

Also Read:Chandrababu Naidu Enacting Drama In The Name of Special Category Status: YS Jagan

My father taught me that credibility and trustworthiness, commitment and sincerity, constitute the cornerstone of service to the people. He imparted to me the lesson of being among the common citizens to serve them with the spirit of selflessness. It is from him that I imbibed the valuable lesson of responding to the problems of the masses and gaining an insight into their everyday lives. No wonder then, because of his tireless service in the cause of the weakest of the weak, he has created for himself a permanent place in their hearts. As his son and the inheritor of this legacy of service to the people, I take pride in the fact that millions of common men and women across the state and elsewhere, revere him.

Representatives of the student community who met me today lamented that although the academic year had begun, they still did not get their textbooks. While the textbooks were supposed to be supplied in the month of April, the tenders were finalised only in May. As a result, there could be considerable delay in the supply of these textbooks and it could stretch to August or September, they regretted. Consequently, they pointed out, the worst affected section was that of students in government schools.

While this was the case, they said that corporate colleges, which were proxies of the government or enjoyed its full support, printed their textbooks in violation of norms and distributed them among the students at a higher cost, looting them. They expressed their anguish at this state of affairs and recalled that last year also, textbooks happened to reach the students only in the month of October.

It is unfortunate that the TDP government did not take necessary steps to ensure that text books are delivered to students in time. This only shows its concern for their future and how it is driven by self-interest.

The General Secretary of the State Olympic Association, Purushottam and others, met me and told me that sports in Andhra Pradesh was a totally neglected area. It was a victim of corruption on a massive scale, they said. “All the sports facilities and stadiums were located in Hyderabad and had the most modern equipment,” they said. Though we could utilise these facilities for 10 years, Chandrababu Naidu, who got trapped in the notes-for-votes case, left Hyderabad overnight, they deplored. “The AP CM assured us of establishing sports stadiums and complexes with excellent facilities for which the Centre would allocate funds amounting to crores of rupees. Chinna Babu (Lokesh) cast his eye on these funds and appointed his proxies to the Olympic Association to have a firm grip on its functioning. Because of his low level politics, we lost an opportunity to host National Games,” they lamented. They slammed the TDP government for having forfeited a golden opportunity to develop sports facilities across the state. They revealed that funds amounting to more than Rs.150 Cr meant for the development of sports grounds and related facilities in 3000 schools were pocketed by the higher-ups. Seats under sports quota in medical colleges were sold to yes-men of TDP leaders, who were not eligible, while the government looked the other way. The father-son duo ruined the sports system in AP, driven by greed.

I have a question for the chief minister—isn’t it ridiculous on your part to say that Amaravati would host the Olympics, when AP could not even host National Games? Isn’t it plain ignorance on your part to say that you would award a Nobel prize to a medal winner in Olympics?