Even The Aged Have Not Been Spared By Chandrababu

Kenwin School Area, Visakhapatnam District: My Padayatra continued on a cloudy day and at every moment it appeared as though the heavens would open up. Unmindful of this fact, people waited in large numbers for me. I did not want to disappoint them and therefore, I wished to complete most of my Padayatra before it rained.

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People showed spontaneous love and affection everywhere and this in turn, made me indescribably happy. Small girls who lined the Padayatra route waiting for me—Anitha, Anantalakshmi, Manga and Aswini—had a letter each on their palms of the slogan, “Jai Jagananna” in ripened, red henna. They won my heart over with this sweet, genuine gesture.

Many people came to me saying that economic backwardness stood in the way of their pursuit of dreams of getting a sound footing in higher education. Kola Lakshmi, who met me near Pedaboddepalli, has a daughter whom she wishes to educate, but cannot. Her daughter displayed merit in her 10th standard and wanted to study further. Laxmi, who had health problems, apart from a fractured hand, did not know how to pay the fees for her daughter’s intermediate education.

Laxmimanga of Chandrayyapalem had a similar story to narrate. She lost her husband about a year ago and has two daughters whom she has to support. As long as her husband, a daily wage labourer, was alive, they could manage to educate their children. She now finds it difficult to make both ends meet for a single meal. “Under such circumstances, how can I educate my children,” she asked, as she sobbed. Chukka Lakshmi met me near Subbarayudupalem. She pointed to her child who had a congenital disability and narrated her problems, weeping as she spoke. She wanted to get her child treated and empower her with education. The treatment itself would cost lakhs of rupees, she learnt. She wondered how she could afford it when day-to-day survival was a challenge. “How can I educate my child”, was her question.

In every village, there were scores of such instances. My intention to empower the girl child with education through the “Amma Badi” program got strengthened even further, as I moved along.

Kamireddy Lachamma and Erraiah of Subbarayudupalem had a heart-rending story to narrate about their lives. Both are over 80 years old, suffer from impaired vision and live in a dilapidated tiled house. Erraiah finds it difficult to walk and his mental faculties are beginning to weaken. Lachamma broke her hand last year and is incapable of doing any work. They lost their only son to ill health. They are surviving only on account of the kindness of their neighbours. Their pathetic condition moved me deeply.

I have a question for the chief minister—your manifesto listed a number of important commitments and one of them is that old-age shelters would be set up in every constituency. Do you have any memory of this promise? Forget about hundreds or thousands of shelters, has your government built at least one such old-age shelter? Couldn’t you have spared the elderly from your deception?