People Suffer When A Government Disowns Responsibility   

26 Jun, 2018 10:27 IST|Sakshi
AP Leader of Opposition YS Jagan Mohan Reddy

Pasarlapudi Badava, East Godavari District: Unmindful of heat and humidity, thousands of people joined me on my Padayatra today. The spontaneous outpouring of affection demonstrated by such a large number of people overwhelmed me. My walkathon progressed on a grand note between the villages of Nagaram and Mamidikuduru.

“Thanks to your father’s pioneering healthcare scheme, Arogyasri, I’m alive today,“ said Chittimenu Verrayya, an auto driver. Tadi Satyanarayana told me with justifiable pride that his daughter could pursue higher education, thanks to the fee reimbursement scheme and was well-placed in a successful job today. Kaleemunnisa narrated her problems to me and said that she was not in a position to afford surgery and without the support of Arogyasri, she suffered on a daily basis. In this manner thousands of common people walked along with me recalling the contribution of my father the late Dr YS Rajashekhar Reddy. In contrast, they were furious with Chandrababu Naidu for making their lives miserable.

The gas pipeline passed through the villages which I covered on my Padayatra today—Nagaram, Mamidikuduru and Pasarlapudi—and the seething, underlying resentment was conspicuous. These villages had the maximum number of natural gas wells and pipelines. The local villagers said that though the place was rich in oil deposits, the prosperity which accrued from it, did not touch the villages. Though the resources yielded thousands of crores, there was no sign of development here. To add insult to injury, the funds which were provided by oil companies under corporate social responsibility, were being diverted and misused by the ruling TDP leaders, the villagers regretted. When rulers disown their responsibility, people suffer the most, as was the case here.

As I was walking through Mamidikuduru, a group of women who were daily wage labourers came running to meet me. They were workers who were carrying loads of soil on their heads and among them were children. I looked at the calloused hands of the children and told one mother that her child should be in a school, not working as a labourer. “Anna, I lost my husband. I have to work as a daily wage labourer to make both ends meet. This is the reason why my daughter helps me by working alongside on days when we find work.” I felt deeply disturbed by what I saw and my objective to empower the girl child with education, got strengthened even further.

Villagers of Appannapalli in Pasarlapudi complained about fishermen’s lives being affected by the greed of the TDP leaders, who were indulging in unchecked sand mining. “During your father’s rule, we could bid for sand ramps in an open auction. He opened up the news of livelihood to all fishermen here,“ they recalled. “Chandrababu’s men prey on our villages like vultures. TDP leaders have been indulging in sand mining openly and without any fear, earning crores of rupees,” they complained. Using sophisticated equipment, they pointed out that the sand was being transported in trucks. As a result, the villagers did not even get an opportunity to find work as labourers, said the local fishermen.

Chandrababu Naidu has set a notorious example in the history of the state. Never before have sand and soil been looted on the scale in which his partymen have been doing. Nothing is spared in the TDP’s new definition of looting. While his party’s manifesto promised opportunities in every town and village and plans with regard to the utilisation of natural resources, he has it must be said ironically, achieved his aim. Not a village has been spared of loot and corruption. Natural resources in every hamlet are being destroyed by pervasive corruption.

Representatives of Dalit groups complained that funds related to SCs and STs were being misused by the government. Gaddam Yesu, an SC from Peddapatnam Lanka, lifted loads of coconuts for a living. A TDP leader took bribe from this poor daily wage labourer saying that he would get him a loan meant for SCs. It has been two years and he neither got the loan, nor his money back. Mired in debts, this Dalit labourer was compelled to send his wife to Kuwait to tide over the crisis.

My poser to the chief minister— you had promised in your party’s manifesto that the SC/ST sub-plan would be implemented and that action would be taken against those who do not do so. What punishment should be meted out to you for violating SC/ST sub-plan, scanty allocation and diversion of funds?

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