Dr.JP on mission to preserve harmony and promote Telugu Tejam

The Lok Satta Party is embarking on a mission to preserve and promote the pride and glory of Telugus, now endangered by the Delhi decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.

The mission, titled Telugu Tejam, will see Lok Satta Party national President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan mobilizing people’s support for a comprehensive and amicable solution to problems thrown up by the Center’s decision to carve out a separate Telangana State without taking all stakeholders into confidence.

To begin with, Dr. JP will be visiting important towns in Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra regions from September 14 to September 27 and interacting with all stakeholders at round-table conferences and public meetings.

He will call upon people, youth and students in particular, not to be swayed by passion and become pawns in political parties’ cynical machinations to garner their votes by fueling hatred and enmity.

Whether the State remains intact or is divided, the glory of Telugus and their language should not be sullied with people in different regions fighting against each other. All can emerge as winners if they are restrained, ready to reconsider their stand and adopt a ‘give and take’ attitude. What we need now is a quest for harmony, not a mindless conflict.

The Lok Satta recalls that instead of finding permanent solutions to problems bedeviling different regions of the State, all the mainstream political parties in the State have exploited a delicate issue for partisan vote bank politics. Both Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy and Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu used the issue to further their prospects in the 2004 and 2009 general elections respectively. The YSR Congress Party is fishing in troubled waters now.

Treating Andhra Pradesh as their personal estate, the Congress Party and the Union Government have opted to divide the State without associating all stakeholders in decision making. As people in Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra took to the streets to protest their dictatorial decision, the Congress chose to appoint a party committee instead of one of the Government to hear their grievances. The Prime Minister has maintained studied silence even as the chasm between people of different regions is widening.

The Lok Satta Party says that solutions have to be found for five key issues as part of a comprehensive and amicable solution. They are:

Greater Hyderabad:

People living in Hyderabad to whichever region they belong should be provided statutory protection in pursuing their profession or job or business. Of the 82 lakh people in Greater Hyderabad, those from Seemandhra region account for 33 lakh and from other regions of the country 10 lakh. The statutory provision should engender the confidence that the city belongs to all of them, and should promote growth and prosperity to benefit all Telugu Speaking regions.

Revenue from Hyderabad:

The surplus revenue from Greater Hyderabad has to be distributed for a finite period among all the regions in a rational manner. If they do not get a share in revenue from Hyderabad, they will not be in a position to pay even salaries of Government employees.

Government employees:

Thanks to the six-point formula in vogue since 1975, 95 percent of Government jobs are being filled at the local or zonal levels. Guidelines have to be drawn on sorting out problems concerning the remainder of five percent of employees at the State level.

Water resources’ distribution:

A committee should be constituted by law to ensure fair and equitable distribution of water resources acceptable to people of all regions.

Rayalaseema:

A permanent solution should be provided to the most backward Rayalaseema region. The entire region remains backward because of deficient rainfall and absence of industrialization, whereas only some districts are backward in the other two regions. Unless its problems are addressed straightway, turmoil will engulf Rayalaseema in the near future.

The Lok Satta says that division of the State is possible only when people of all regions arrive at an understanding on the five burning issues. If the Center and the Congress Party believe that their job begins and ends with deciding on division, the State will continue to be a smoldering cauldron.

Following is the itinerary of Dr. JP:

Sep. 14 – Kurnool

Sep. 15 – Anantapur

Sep. 16 – Kadapa

Sep. 17 – Tirupati (Chittoor dist.)

Sep. 18 – Nellore

Sep. 19 – Ongole

Sep. 20 – Guntur

Sep. 22 – Vijayawada (Krishna dist.)

Sep. 23 – Bhimavaram (West Godavari dist.)

Sep. 24 – Rajahmundry (East Godavari dist.)

Sep. 25 – Visakhapatnam

Sep. 26 – Vizianagaram

Sep. 27 – Srikakulam

Dr. JP will be accompanied by State Lok Satta Party president Katari Srinivasa Rao, general secretary P. Ravimaruth, Vice-presidents of the three regions and other state and district leaders.