TDP Focuses More On Land Grabbing than Governance
17 Sep, 2018 08:21 IST|Sakshi
Gummadivanipalem, Visakhapatnam District: The two constituencies through which the Padayatra moved today, Pendurthy and Bheemili—exemplify the land grabbing activities and scams of the Telugu Desam government at its worst. Pendurthy constituency shook the conscience of the nation and drew its attention through the infamous Jerrypothulapalem incident in which a Dalit woman was stripped by ruling party leaders. The incident was driven by their greed for grabbing Dalit lands. In Bheemili constituency, on the other hand, land records have been indiscriminately altered and government land worth hundreds of crores pledged to banks in the most brazen manner.
Thousands of people found employment during my father’s tenure through the establishment of SEZ, IT-SEZ and Pharma city in these two constituencies. In contrast, the Chandrababu Naidu’s government, over the past four and a half years, has robbed thousands of families of their livelihood through its land-grabbing activities. Higher ups whose job is to protect government land themselves resort to grabbing it. When the fence itself starts eating the crop, what can one say?
It was hot and sultry through the day and in the evening there was a heavy downpour. However, people continued to throng the route of my Padayatra in thousands, in pouring rain as well as in the hot sun.
Baggu Mounika, who hails from a farmer’s family, is pursuing her Intermediate. She is the recipient of many medals and awards at the national and international levels in boxing. Unfortunately for her, the state government has so far remained unmoved by her talent and sporting brilliance. She expressed her anguish stating that apart from token recognition and a shawl given to her, the government has not come forward to support her in any big way. Chandrababu Naidu claims that his government would conduct Olympics in Amaravati! When gems like Mounika remain unsung and unrecognised, one can imagine the state of affairs. Hemalata, who belongs to the backward classes, completed her diploma, but her certificates have been withheld by her college due to non-issue of fee reimbursement. She lamented that she had to borrow money in order to pay her fees, get her certificates released from her college and join B.Tech.
Members of the Kapu community walked alongside me in my Padayatra, holding placards and banners. They thanked me for being committed to the welfare of their community and walked with me expressing their solidarity. Santoshi of Tumpala village met me in the evening and brought along with her, her seven year old child, who had a congenital defect. The child was mentally challenged from birth and suffered from epilepsy as well. Her husband was a daily wage labourer and survival itself was a challenge for them. Vexed with running around government officials for a pension, she asked the Janmabhoomi committee members to take care of her child in a meeting held by them. Realising perhaps that elections are round the corner, the TDP leaders climbed down and released pension in her case which was due for the past many years during which she had been going from pillar to post.
I have a question for the chief minister—your election manifesto proudly proclaims that your government would implement the fee reimbursement scheme. Not only has the scheme been completely watered down, but even the little which is released comes in a trickle. As a result, many students are losing an academic year and the education of many others is getting affected. Is it not true that this, in turn, is severely impacting the employment prospects of the youth in the state? Is it not a fact that families are driven into debts on account of the dilution of the fee reimbursement scheme and the resulting unemployment?
