Press Releases Archive

Good governance award to AP Joke of the year: Lok Satta

The Andhra Pradesh Government bagging India Today’s ‘Best performing State in governance’ award is the biggest joke of the year, commented Lok Satta Party Vice President D. V. V. S. Varma today.

In a media statement, Mr. Varma said it was strange that India Today has chosen to confer the award on Andhra Pradesh in which the Cabinet has not been able to meet regularly, the legislature cannot conduct its sessions smoothly, employees have gone on long-drawn strikes, common man’s life has been disrupted and almost all key issues continue to remain unresolved.

“Absence of governance is perhaps tantamount to good governance in India Today’s assessment”, commented Mr. Varma wryly.

Mr. Varma pointed out that the Kiran Kumar Reddy Government which revels in announcing one scheme after another has miserably failed in implementing them. The Chief Minister who announced Rajiv Yuva Kiranalu scheme to boost his image by promising 15 lakh jobs to youth in three years has not been able to provide even four lakh ordinary jobs.

Mr. Varma asked whether the Chief Minister who talks of extending three percent and interest-free loans to self-help group women claim they have become economically self-reliant. Is he unaware of the plight of women who have become victims of microfinance institutions and their spouses to liquor addiction? He has not been able to fulfill his promise to provide bank loans to tenants. There is a wide chasm between Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy’s promises and performance.

Mr. Varam said it is pertinent to point out that Union Rural Development Minister told the Chief Minister on his face that his Government has failed to devolve powers and resources on local governments.

To assert that a Chief Minister who does not draw a distinction between development schemes and populist sops has provided good governance is ridiculous, concludes Mr. Varma.

Saturday, December 21, 2013 - 21:15

Lok Satta to expose Govt. Failures from Dec. 21

The Lok Satta Party is launching an action program from December 21 in all the three regions of the State for three months to expose how the Government has been taking youth for a ride in the name of Rajiv Yuva Kiranalu, ruining people’s lives by encouraging unbridled liquor consumption and playing havoc with people’s health by failing to supply safe drinking water.

Four party teams led by top leaders will be going round various places to lead and involve people in the agitation, according to a statement issued by State Lok Satta Party President Katari Srinivasa Rao here today.

Messrs Katari Srinivasa Rao, D. Lakshmi, Allu Ramesh Reddy and Narra Sridhar will be visiting Kukatpally and Serilingampalli in Hyderabad on December 21, Prakasam and Nellore districts on December 23 and 24 and Krishna and Guntur districts on December 28 and 29.

Messrs Ravi Maruth, Y. D. Rama Rao, D. V. V. S. Varma and Allu Ramesh Reddy will visit Sanatnagar and Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad on December 21 and 22, Visakhapatnam on December 26 and 27 and East Godavari on December 28 and 29.

Messrs N. Ravinder and Eeda Chennaiah will visit L. B. Nagar on December 21, Malkajigiri on December 22, Uppal on December 23 and Rajendranagar on December 24, all in Hyderabad.

Messrs Bandaru Ramamohan Rao and N. Ravinder will visit Yellareddy in Nizamabad district on December 28, Husnabad in Karimnagar district on December 29 and Nandyal in Kurnool district on December 30.

Thursday, December 19, 2013 - 17:00

Lokpal should catch big fish to send a strong message: Lok Satta

While whole-heartedly welcoming the passage of the Lokpal Bill in Parliament, Lok Satta Party national President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan said that it would be deemed a success only if a dozen corrupt high-level politicians and civil servants are sentenced to rigorous imprisonment and their properties confiscated annually.

In a media statement, Dr. JP pointed out that such deterrent punishment would send a strong message to the entire nation on the Government’s commitment to fight corruption.

Dr. JP reiterated the Lok Satta Party contention that there is no alternative to creation of an independent, empowered Lokayukta at the State level because that is where corruption is omnipresent and hurts the common man most. Andhra Pradesh, for instance, has only a toothless Lokayukta.

The passage of the Lokpal should be regarded as only a beginning in the war against corruption. The war can become full-fledged only when a stringent law on the lines of the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators Act (SAFEMA) is in place providing for confiscation of the entire property of the corrupt.

The Lokpal law should be supplemented with a law to guarantee Government services as a matter of right to every citizen with provision imposition of penalty for failure to deliver services. A Bill drafted by the Lok Satta in this regard at the instance of the Parliamentary Committee is before Parliament.

Dr. JP also demanded that laws, rules and regulations should be ushered in to ensure that all scarce natural resources like telecom spectrum, iron ore and coal mines are allocated in a competitive and transparent manner.

According to Dr. JP, the Lokpal law will cover about 2000 high-level politicians and civil servants at the Central level. The Central Vigilance Commission will deal with lower level employees under the superintendence of the Lokpal.

Dr. JP recalled with happiness that most of the recommendations made by the Lok Satta Round Table 2011 on the Lokpal have been incorporated in the amended Bill. Some of the best legal brains in the country including the late Justice J. S. Verma and Justice M. N. Venkatachalaiah took part in the Round Table and suggested changes in the Lokpal Bill conceived by the Government.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013 - 17:49

Pages