Chandrababu Wants Women’s Self Help Groups To Thank Him For Waivers!
Gandigundam Cross: The Padayatra is coming to an end in Visakhapatnam district. Not a day has passed when people did not bring to my attention, instances of land grabbing by TDP leaders in the district. As on every other day, people came to me in large numbers complaining about land-grabbing being indulged in by the TDP leaders. “Our lands, lake and even our graveyard has not been spared by the proxies of the minister, and land records have been altered and fabricated,“ said farmers of Chandaka village. When questioned, they were being implicated in false cases, they lamented.
For many years, Dalits have been cultivating land in Bhimannadorapalem. These D-Patta lands were grabbed by Anakapalle MLA Pila Govind Satyanarayana and his family members, they complained. Though a complaint was lodged with SIT and a case registered, nothing has come of it, they said. These farmers were now being denied entry into their own land, they complained. When it comes to grabbing land everywhere, the ruling party’s activities are on an unprecedented scale.
There were no cell phone signals in the area through which the Praja Sankalpa Yatra moved today. The suffering of people is beyond description in these parts. People have to travel to distant places for their biometrics to claim pension, ration and even daily wages. Women and the elderly suffer the most in the process. In an emergency, they cannot make a phone call for police help, fire services or an ambulance.
They have to walk 5 km to make a call for 108 service and even when that goes through, it doesn’t come immediately said villagers who recalled that an elderly person, Akkireddy died of a heart pain in such circumstances. Hemasri, who began experiencing labour pains gave birth to her child on the road, they recollected. Another villager died of a stroke because timely medical help did not reach him, they said. I was deeply pained by all these instances and at the same time, I was shocked to learn that this village which was so close to Visakhapatnam city was lacking in such basic facilities.
If one were to see the state of affairs in this village not very far from Visakhapatnam city and set it against the claims of leaders who say that they introduced the cell phone to India and brag about their technological prowess and vision, their tall talk appears increasingly dwarfed by the pathetic reality which stares us in the face. What can one say about a leader who claims that he is the pioneer of information technology in India! Will he never wake up to reality? Chandrababu Naidu wants women from self help groups to pass a resolution thanking him for fulfilling all his promises, when not one of his assurances has been met. Women from Ramavaram village met me this evening and told me that they were from Sarojini group, Sairam group, and Mary Mata group. They complained about the deception related to Chandrababu Naidu‘s loan waiver. Thanks to his betrayal, 18 groups were declared defaulters by banks, they lamented. Their simple question was, “why should we thank the chief minister? What should we say”?
I have a question for the chief minister—before the elections, you asked women not to pay DWCRA loans and said that you would waive these loans once you came to power. These women were made to believe that this promise is a part of your election manifesto, but so far not a single paisa has been waived. Recently, the your minister revealed this in the assembly. Can there be greater deception? Is it fair to betray women in this manner after making such promises? Is this the value and significance attached to your election manifesto? What can be more shameful than asking women cheated by you to pass a resolution thanking you for what you did not do for them?
