Vijayawada: People urged to elect leaders for state devpt

Vijayawada : The state government policies are taking the state backwards instead of forward, said former special chief secretary P V Ramesh.

He was addressing a round-table organised by Citizens for Democracy on Development of Andhra Pradesh here on Monday with Vallamreddy Lakshmana Reddy, joint secretary of Citizens for Democracy in the chair.

Ramesh said that the youth should discuss the development of the state and the country and evince interest in their future. “When the world is moving towards artificial intelligence (AI), the Indian community stopped in the 19th century. The political, economical, social inequalities have increased in the society.”

He expressed concern over the growing dictatorial tendencies which are harmful to the democracy. The Latin American countries which implemented the direct benefit transfer schemes faced lot of problems. Likewise, the state would also face severe problems in future. The leaders should think of improving the education and medical facilities and encourage the productivity. “The creation of wealth is the only way for development,” he asserted.

Expressing concern over the concentration of wealth with a small group of people, he said that this resulted in growing inequalities in the country. The ruling dispensation had been making money exploiting the natural resources like sand, mining and earth.

He said that the society has been going back due to the reverse engine both in the state and the country. It is the failure of the rulers when we could not complete the Polavaram project and the construction of capital city. Ramesh said that Excise had reached Rs 24,000 crore in the state budget, he pointed out describing it as giving with one hand and taking back with another.

Ramesh exhorted the youth to launch an agitation for the development of the state and the country. They should come forward to vote voluntarily and elect the good leaders.

Prof Kondaveeti Chinnaya Suri of University of Hyderabad said that it was not good for democracy to make the citizens as beneficiaries and utilise them as voters to grab power. It is also not proper to shirk the responsibilities of providing infrastructure like transport, education, medical facilities.

Lakshmana Reddy said that the government had been neglecting the irrigation projects which are lifeline for people. “It had spent only 2.5 percent in the budget for irrigation projects. The Andhra Pradesh stood in the 30th place in the literacy rate. The government had totally neglected the development programmes.

High court advocate Padiri Ravi Teja the crime rate had gone up from 1.48 lakh in 2017 to more than two lakh crimes in 2022 in the state. The capital city of Amaravati was destroyed as part of the conspiracy of dividing people on the basis of castes. There are no minimal facilities to the high court so far.

Former Mayor Jandhyala Sankar, president of Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Parishad Dr Jasti Veeranjaneyulu, head of Manavata Pavuluri Ramesh and others also participated.