Praja Sankalpa Yatra Diary Day 14: Hopelessness and Despair Seen Everywhere

November 21, Kolumulapalle, Kurnool District:

All along the route that I trekked from Gorlagutta village to Kolumulapally in Dhone assembly constituency on Tuesday, there was widespread despondence in the air. Loss of hope and despair were writ large. Everywhere, there was monumental neglect, loss of sensitivity and lack of concern on the part of the Government. Chandrababu Naidu did not fulfill any of his promises. It was the same complaint… same anguish and same agony everywhere….

Lack of drinking water and absence of irrigation facility is the persistent malady dogging this constituency. There are many water bodies here. But, there isn’t a drop to quench people’s thirst and to wet the parched land. This shows the kind of support that the Government of the day is extending to this area. The Chandrababu Government has turned a Nelson’s eye to the famed polished stone industry here, sending thousands of workers into unemployment. This region is known for its polished stone industry and thousands of households eke out their livelihoods from these stone polishing units. These units are now languishing due to the faulty and insensitive policies of the Government. Many have had to shut down due to the mounting royalty burden and the rising power bills and many more are inching closer to an inevitable closure.

Dhone is the only constituency in this district that has no irrigation facility to wet even an acre. Even drinking water is an acute problem here. Thousands of poor households are migrating from Dhone as there’s no sheen left in the stone polishing industry anymore and no hope from the farm sector either. It is very sad and heart-wrenching to see people unable to eke out a livelihood in the place of their birth and growth. A government that ignores the right to live and livelihood and fails to provide necessary resources and opportunities to generate employment is no government. This situation needs to be changed. This region has the resources needed for the stone polishing industry and life has to be breathed into this industry once again so that migration stops.

During my padayatra, Srivani, a mother, met me. Her daughter is a brainy girl. But, now she is left teary-eyed. “My daughter lost an opportunity to get admitted into IIIT due to the fault of the SSC board. We went from pillar to post, but to no avail,” Srivani said, holding back tears. Her daughter cannot understand why she is being penalized for the fault and negligence of others. There are many injustices and administrative lapses and these victims are pouring out their woes to me all along my padayatra. My Praja Sankalpa Yatra is meant to alleviate the problems faced by the common people who have been let down by the government of the day.

In the end, here is my question to Chandrababu Naidu. Can you confidently say that you have fulfilled at least one promise you made during your first Independence Day visit to Dhone after becoming the Chief Minister? Are your assurances to provide drinking water and irrigation facility to this constituency no more than deluding mirages? What did you do to help the hapless farmers, who are hit by lack of irrigation facilities to their crops and deprived of a fair price for their produce?