Administration in Andhra Pradesh has come to a standstill with the Chief Minister and his colleagues making the rounds to New Delhi engrossed in their bid to safeguard positions of power in the wake of allegations of incompetence against some and corruption against some others, commented Lok Satta Party General Secretary Katari Srinivasa Rao here today.
In a media statement, Mr. Srinivasa Rao pointed out that the crisis in the Congress Party has plunged the State into a crisis because of concentration of power in New Delhi and Hyderabad. Failure to delegate powers, resources and personnel to local governments has spawned unrest and regional movements.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao said that both the Congress and the Telugu Desam are both equally guilty of centralized rule. The present Congress Government has repeatedly deferred elections to local bodies and placed them under official rule in blatant violation of statutory norms. Empowerment of local bodies alone will enable people to get services as their right without depending on Central and State Governments.
The Surjajya movement launched by the Lok Satta Party aims at enlightening and educating people on centralization of power, he added.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao welcomed the State Government decision to go ahead with the third phase of the Krishna water supply project to meet the drinking water needs of Hyderabad.
The Lok Satta Party, he recalled, had advocated that the Godavari water should be utilized for irrigation in the Telangana region as its diversion is costly and unviable. In contrast, as Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan has repeatedly pointed out, the Krishna water can be tapped faster and at a lesser cost.
