Congress flays govt for adding SC, ST welfare in Navaratnas
Working president of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee Janga Gautham addressing the media at Andhra Ratna Bhavan in Vijayawada on Monday
Vijayawada: Working president of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee Janga Gautham came down heavily on the state government for doing gross, unprecedented injustice to the SC and ST communities.
Addressing the media at the party headquarters Andhra Ratna Bhavan here on Monday, Gautham said that after winning the election with the votes of Dalits and Girijans, the YSRCP backstabbed them.
He expressed solidarity with the Dalit, Girijan Aikya Vedika in its fight against the YSRCP government in connection with the discontinuation of 27 welfare schemes for the SC and ST communities across the state.
The working PCC president demanded the state government to release a white paper on the welfare and development schemes for the SC and ST communities. He also demanded the government to come for an open debate with the intellectuals of Girijan and Dalit associations.
Gautham demanded the government to convene the special Assembly session to discuss the rights and development of Dalits and Girijans who form 25 percent of the electorate.
The State government which claimed that it was implementing welfare schemes along with the rest of the population under Navaratna schemes is actually taking away the special schemes designed for them.
He recalled that the Congress had a great history of bringing various enactments for the development of Dalits and Girijans and it would wage a battle against the government for them in future.
The Congress would lead the struggle of the Dalits and Girijans as per the Vijayawada Declaration if it was not implemented by the YCP government.
He pooh-poohed the claims of the government that there are five deputy chief ministers in the State, and said that there was only one deputy chief minister in the name of Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy. "Sajjala should take the issue of implementation of welfare and development programmes for the SCs and STs to the notice of the chief minister," he demanded.
The Congress expressed solidarity with the struggle of Girijans at Chintapalli who are waging a battle against the hydropower plant at Chintapalli, he said.