Press Releases Archive

Lok Satta demands all-party meet On increase in school fees

The Lok Satta Party today demanded that the Government convene an all-party meeting to hammer out an acceptable solution to the problems parents are facing because of the steep hike in fees in private schools.

Talking to the media, party spokesmen V. Laxman Balaji said the 200-300 percent increase in schools fees had forced many families to run into debts. Even poor and middle class families have no alternative to sending their children to private schools because of Government failure in providing quality education in pubic sector institutions.

Mr. V. Vijayender Reddy, Mr. G. Raja Reddy and Mr. Mohd, Ishaq Khan, party leaders, took part in the media meet.

The Lok Satta also demanded that the Government put an end to the practice of allotting liquor shops to highest bidders. (Excise auctions are scheduled for May). Pointing out that some liquor shops fetched as much as Rs.2 crore each by way of license fees, the Lok Satta leaders said that the successful bidders promoted liquor sales through unauthorized outlets, also known as belt shops. When the matter was raised in the just concluded Assembly session, the Chief Minister repeated his old reply that his attention should be drawn if there were belt shops. The Government was not ashamed of implementing welfare schemes with revenue generated from liquor, which ruined the very people whom it wanted to help.

Commenting on the Assembly proceedings, the party regretted that members of both the Congress and the TDP chose to indulge in mutual recrimination and wasted precious time instead of engaging themselves in meaningful discussion. Although the Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan explained how Andhra Pradesh stood at the bottom among southern States in the human development index, and how it lagged behind some of the Bimaru (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) States, considered economically backward, there was no discussion.

Thursday, June 11, 2009 - 21:06

Dr. JP's Anti-Corruption Bill includes Legislators among public servants

Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan presented a draft Bill to amend the Prevention of Corruption (Andhra Pradesh) Act to the Speaker, Mr. N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and the Chief Minister and leader of the House, Dr. Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy, in the Assembly today. He appealed to the government to introduce the Bill in the Legislature in the budget session.

The amendment Bill integrates recommendations, guidelines and suggestions of the 166th Law Commission Report, the 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission's 4th Report among others with a view to eradicating corruption at all levels.

In its statement of objects and reasons, the Bill says: "Prior interventions have been considered as mere posturing without any real intention to bring the corrupt to book, and have been inferred to be handy weapons for partisan, political use to harass opponents. Corruption is so deeply entrenched in the system that most people regard corruption as inevitable and any effort to fight it as futile. This cynicism is spreading so fast that it bodes ill for our democratic system itself.

"In fact, there is no reason to believe that we, as a people, are more prone to corruption than any other culture or society. Wherever competition and choice have been institutionalized, and technology and transparency introduced, corruption has been reduced. What we need is political will, systemic improvement and relentless and assured application of law."

If the Bill is adopted, MLAs and MLCs, elected members of panchayats, municipalities, and municipal corporations will be deemed as public servants and attract the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

As per the Bill, an accused public servant has to prove his innocence in cases of trap or disproportional assets. It provides for attachment and seizure of property during investigation and forfeiture of property when he or she is found guilty.

The Bill provides for establishment of a special court in every district, appointment of chief judicial magistrates as special public prosecutors and autonomy to the Anti Corruption Bureau, and effective powers to the Lok Ayukta. Special courts can on their own take cognizance of corruption involving public servants.

In its preamble, the Bill quotes former UN General Secretary Kofi Annan who says: "Corruption hurts the poor disproportionately by diverting funds intended for development, undermining a government's ability to provide basic services, feeding inequality and injustice, and discouraging foreign investment and aid."

Addressing the media, Dr. JP congratulated the Chief Minister on his commitment to eradicate corruption. But he should walk the talk. If the Government did not introduce the Bill to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act, Dr. JP said, he would introduce it as a private member's Bill.

Dr. JP also underlined the need to integrate various authorities dealing with corruption and disciplinary proceedings. The Lok Satta would draft a separate Bill for that purpose. Lok Satta Party leaders K. Dharma Reddy, V. Vijayender Reddy and E. Chennayya took part in the media meet.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009 - 19:56

TDP policy suicidal: Lok Satta

The Lok Satta Party said today the Telugu Desam was suffering from a bankruptcy of ideas going by the decision of its technical wing to focus its attention on eroding the Lok Satta base in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal and the 2014 general elections.

Instead of honestly analyzing the reasons for its debacle in the 2009 elections despite the irresistible sops it offered to the electorate, the TDP seemed to regard the Lok Satta as its No. 1 enemy. The educated and the elite voted for the Lok Satta impressed by its policies and determination to usher in a new political culture. The TDP propaganda would, therefore, cut no ice, and instead prove suicidal for it.

Talking to the media, party spokesmen Katari Srinivsa Rao and Dr. P. Bhaskara Rao said the Lok Satta would march towards its Mission 2014 beginning with the GHMC elections. They disclosed that an 18-member core committee of the party was going round the divisions in the city to choose the right candidates to contest the GHMC elections. Voters regarded the Lok Satta as the party of the future, going by the feedback the core committee had so far received.

Monday, June 8, 2009 - 17:52

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