Praja Sankalpa Yatra Diary, Day 21: Politics Even In Sanctioning Toilets?

November 29,

B Agraharam, Kurnool District:

As I touched B Agraharam today, the Praja Sankalpa Yatra has crossed the 300-km mark. To mark this milestone, I planted neem and Pongamia saplings.

I am neither tired nor worried about the distances that I trek everyday as part of the yatra. Being with the people, listening to them and getting to understand their issues is a very special experience. The reason why my late father had introduced so many welfare initiatives even without the people actually asking for them is because his Praja Prasthanam had helped him understand the people and their real needs. Perhaps every politician worth his salt must undertake this. There can never be any alternative to first -hand exposure and experience.

A large number of women met me today. They complained that they were not getting sanitary toilets sanctioned just because the ruling party suspects that they did not vote for them. Though the bills were sanctioned, the ruling party leaders have been blocking the release of the funds. Even pensions for the senior citizens are blocked on the same grounds. Isn’t it very unfortunate that politics, which should just be limited to elections, stoop down to the level of stopping pensions from being released and blocking toilets from being sanctioned? The model school guest teachers, who met me today, told me that there’s no job security for them. They haven’t been getting their salaries regularly. I was pained to know that even the schools meant to provide quality education to the students from poor economic background are passing through troubled times.

A large number of people from the Valmiki community met me at Ganjihalli village. They constitute a significant chunk of voters in Kurnool Lok Sabha constituency. During the 2014 elections, Chandrababu had promised them to include them in the ST category. In his greed to grab their votes, he did not even bother to think if this was feasible at all. It’s been four years and he has done nothing to fulfill the promise. The Valmikis feel Chandrabu Naidu had let them down badly. Understandably, they are livid and upset.

At the end, a poser to Chandrababu! Is it justified on your part to extend various benefits only to those from your party when you, as Chief Minister, should ensure that the welfare benefits reach every eligible poor person in the state? Should a self-proclaimed senior-most politician show such discrimination towards the poor and the deprived?