|
|
Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy addresses TDF gathering in Philadelphia
July 18, 2005
Jeffersonville, PA
Mr. Sudhakar Reddy who was accompanied by his
relatives was given a warm welcome by TDF Philadelphia
chapter at Chateau Granieri in Jeffersonville, PA.
About 25 Telangana enthusiasts assembled for this
exciting informational-cum-interactive dinner session.
Mr. Anil Golla opened the session with a brief
biographical sketch of Mr. Sudhakar Reddy. He
highlighted Mr. Sudhakar's educational background and
his role in politics as a key member in AISF and AIYF
while a student. He also spoke about Mr. Sudhakar
Reddy's literary interests and his current role as
member of editorial board at Visalandhra publications.
He gave due credit to Mr. Sudhakar on his strong
representation in Lok Sabha on issues such as "Relief
measures on workers in agrarian sector", "Cancellation
of the license of Prudential Co-Op Bank" and "Need to
chalk out a plan to undertake de-fluorification of
drinking water in Nalgonda and other districts in AP".
Mr. Ravi Mayreddy TDF Philadelphia Chapter
Co-ordinator, spoke about TDF and its activities. He
spoke about various city chapters around the world and
also their objectives and goals. He also mentioned
that TDF is working towards bringing a group of
intellectuals from Telangana to educate NRI's on the
current situation. He further stated that TDF is
currently working on several projects in association
with TVV, a sister concern in India to spread the
word.
Mr. Amar Reddy, an activist from Nalgonda spoke on the
occasion and gave a detailed picture on the
seriousness of high fluoride content in ground water
in his district and its ill effects on villagers. (The
seriousness of the problem can be measured by the fact
that the groundwater has 10 to 12 parts per million
(ppm) of fluoride in contrast to a maximum permitted
level of just 1.5 ppm). He spoke about the
difficulties he faced to get state government's
attention to this severe problem and said the only
solution to this health issue is to have surface water
as de-fluorification of water is not feasible in this
region. (You can find more information at
www.nalgonda.org).
In his opening, Mr. Sudhakar was very critical of
Telugu newspapers. He said a massive amount of
misinformation was being propagated in the print and
broadcast media. He touched on every aspect of life in
India in current times that was affecting development,
may it be agriculture, industrial or service sector.
Referring to caste based politics he said, "India
resembles more like 18th century society than a 21st
century".
He was deeply concerned at the present scenario where
India has to abide by WTO rules and the dictates of
international lending agencies. He said the industrial
and service sectors were being promoted at the expense
of agriculture which supports roughly 70% of Indian
population. He said the debt burden of Govt. of AP has
risen from Rs.13000 crores to Rs.46000 crores during
TDP rule whereas the value of assets did not increase
on the same lines.
Speaking on the 3 types of enterprises that India
enjoyed in its early years after independence, he said
successive governments had destroyed the co-operative
enterprises totally and now are looking to destroy the
public enterprises. He cited many examples where this
is being carried without any thought. Some of the
examples he gave were the government run sugar
industries, IDPL, Telecommunications industry, Centaur
(govt. run hospitality group) among others. He
stressed on the need to sell to people rather than to
private groups and gave an example of how the British
have sold their public enterprises to the people and
made good for both the government and the people.
He gave insights into the "Right to Information" and
how it would benefit the general public. He said an
Information Commissioner would be appointed at all
levels and will look into information needs of the
public.
Speaking on the subject of separate Telangana, he said
it is not very uncommon to find people who are still
interested in a united Andhra. He said it is very
healthy to have different views and said "people who
have strong feelings towards separate Telangana should
respect others who are for a united Andhra and have an
objective approach in this matter". He totally agreed
with the fact that Telangana is a backward region and
at the same time he pointed out several areas in
coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema which are equally
backward. He said "we should shy away from the
argument that Telangana is underdeveloped and it is
due to exploitation by Andhra settlers". He said he
cannot accept the words "Coastal Andhra is exploiting
Telangana". He mentioned that lot of jobs in Telangana
went to Andhra people as there weren't enough
qualified people in Telangana at that time.
He expressed his dissatisfaction over successive
government's attitude towards irrigation projects in
Telangana. He was of the opinion that the projects in
Telangana should be taken up first. He wanted the
implementation of Regional Committees which would give
a power to locals to decide on the type of projects
that should be carried out in each region. He wanted
the implementation of G.O.610, open all public
factories and give priority to employment generation.
He said the migrant labor situation has become so bad
that one can compare it to nomadic tribes who move
from place to place in search of livelihood. He added
that the gap between the developed and the
underdeveloped areas is growing wider and wider.
He said his party stand on Telangana will change based
on the feelings of the people. He said there are some
problems with the 2nd SRC also and will pose some
unique situations for the center and center will have
to look into all these issues and cannot address
Telangana issue alone.
In response to a question on CPI's stand on Polavaram
project and the impending large scale displacement of
people, he said his party has done research into it
and said they are of the opinion that the height of
the dam should be reduced by a few yards as there is
scope for reducing it to about 12 yards. This will
dramatically reduce the area that will be submerged
and will save lot of tribal habitats. He said that his
party's proposal is to offer cultivable land right
under this project for the benefit of displaced
farmers. He further stated that in case government
lands are not available, then the government should
buy land from big farmers and give them to the
displaced.
To another question on how best the TNRI's can utilize
their funds for development, he stated that there are
many schools which do not have sanitation facilities,
and this was a major problem for girl students. He
said," students walk for several miles to get to a
school or college to an open classroom, a shelter
would be of great help".
Answering a question on why Ms. Sonia Gandhi has not
come out openly with her stand on Telangana, he said
she has not taken any stand and hence no response. He
said TRS is misleading people and said "how can a
national leader take a regional entity aside and make
a promise in private?" Further, he said TRS is a bane
rather than a boon to Telangana region.
In response to Pulichintala project, he said there is
lot of misinformation that is being spread by
Telangana leaders. He said his party had conducted a
study on the project and categorically stated there is
no injustice done to Telangana and that not even a
single TMC of water that belongs to Telangana will be
given to other regions.
In response to his opinion on naxal issue, he said,
"about 1500 naxals have been killed so far, a few
thousand are captured and several thousands have
surrendered, still the recruitment goes on. The
average lifespan of a naxal is 3 years and they know
well that they will die as naxals, still they are
joining the movement. The root cause of this problem
is helplessness and lack of opportunities". He added
several CPI party members have been killed by the
naxals and it is a popular misconception that naxals
do not target communists. At the same time he
mentioned that some law and order issues that the
government could not handle effectively were solved by
naxals in no time hinting at their commitment to
provide justice to a common man.
Q&A session ended at 10:30. Mr. Sudhakar is on his way
to NJ.
TDF is grateful to Mr. Bal Reddy who sponsored the
event at his amazingly beautiful banquet facility -
Chateau Granieri in Jeffersonville, PA.
|
|
Home
| About TDF | Press
Center | Events | Contact
| Sitemap
