Workers Displaced Without Alternative Means Of Livelihood Under TDP
Gopavarapugudem, Krishna District: Brahmayyalingam lake is a glowing example of how the current TDP government has completely forgotten the age-old dictum that if you protect nature, it will protect you. People from this region took me to the lake near Gannavaram constituency and showed me what was left of it. The area had been dug up in contravention of all rules and without any valid permissions. Thousands of trucks ferried sand after excavating it and in the bargain, TDP leaders made crores of rupees, submitting bills for huge amounts. The loot continued unabated. Officials and TDP politicians shared the booty and were in collusion right through, all over the state. The sight pained me deeply. I remember how it looked—picturesque scene with the lake brimming with water from Nagarjuna Sagar during my father’s rule. In contrast, it was dug up everywhere and Telugu Desam leaders, heady with power did not stop at grabbing everything in sight, as another example revealed. A hallowed temple was not spared! A temple, for which the foundation was laid by his holiness, Vijayendra Saraswathi, was excavated and shifted, along with the ancient Shiva Linga in it, to another place overnight, without the consent or knowledge of the local residents or devotees. This incident highlighted the levels to which the corrupt practices of the TDP leaders had reached!
“Anna, we have been working on meagre salaries for the past 10 years,” lamented health care workers or Arogya Mitra workers. “We played a crucial role in the pioneering Arogyasri healthcare scheme winning a national award. Because we were given our jobs during your father, late Dr. Rajasekhara Reddy’s time, this wicked government is trying to sack us suspecting is to be YSR loyalists.” I was shocked to hear what they told me.
Further down, I met employees from the 108 services who told me that they had not been paid their salaries for the past five months. 108 ambulances were fewer in number and the ones that were there, needed maintenance very badly and were without minimum equipment and facilities. As a result, this pioneering healthcare support system, became a picture of neglect, they pointed out. All this reflects very sadly on the existing healthcare system in the state which needs a thorough overhaul because of the apathy shown by the TDP government towards it.
Contract employees of Nuzvid Municipality who met me recalled with a shudder that when they pleaded for a raise in their salaries, they realised to their shock, that their jobs were under threat! Chandrababu Naidu had promised to regularise their jobs in his manifesto, but G0 279 put their jobs under the sword, they said. Thousands of employees, mainly hygiene workers, both men and women across the state, would be thrown out of their jobs. Driven by greed, this TDP government was trying to hand out contracts to private entities, they lamented. For decades, these families have been in the occupation of hygiene workers and belong to SC, ST and BC communities. They are suddenly being displaced without any alternative means of livelihood by Chandrababu Naidu’s government and the sense of insecurity which has gripped them, is indeed extremely troubling.
Two child storytellers regaled us with some stories, further along the Padayatra. I patted these itinerant storytellers on their backs and moved on. They said: “There is a bigger storyteller in this state, the biggest of us all. And that is none other than our chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu.” Their comment had me in splits. At the same time, it was disturbing to see these children, who should be at school, making a living out of storytelling, going from village to village.
I have a question for the chief minister— at the time of the elections you had promised to regularise the jobs of contract employees and stated as much in your manifesto. Is it not outright deception on your part to not only go back on the promise you made, but to make a complete turnaround and try to dismiss these employees now.
