Date:16/03/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/03/16/stories/2004031603450500.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Ex-MLA leads rally of applicants for Government schemes

By Our Staff Reporter

KURNOOL, MARCH 15. The former TDP MLA, T.G. Venkatesh, led a massive rally of applicants for various Government schemes here on Monday. Mr. Venkatesh said the Government had withheld distribution of assets under `Kotivaralu' and other programmes because of the hue and cry raised by the CPI(M) leaders in the city.

Over 20,000 people who had applied for house sites, ration cards and assets under the BC package were deprived of the benefits despite the Government sanctioning them. Mr. Venkatesh accused the CPI (M) leaders of fomenting communal trouble in the city by trying to divide people on communal lines to derive mileage in the elections. The Left parties, which had obstructed the Janmabhoomi meetings last year and caused inconvenience to the common public, were also throwing a spanner in the work now by citing the election code, he said.

He called upon the public to teach the parties and leaders, who harmed public interest for the sake of politics, a lesson in the election. Mr. Venkatesh prompted the audience to raise slogans against those who created problems for the poor. Later, Mr. Venkatesh, the Telugu Yuvatha leader, S.V. Mohan Reddy, the chairman of Libraries association, K.G. Gangadhar Reddy, K.C. Kalkura and others walked at the head of the rally which proceeded from STBC ground to the Collectorate.

Mr. Venkatesh met the Collector, Ajay Jain, and the Joint Collector, Mukeshkumar Meena, and urged them to either distribute the assets already sanctioned or announce the list of beneficiaries selected for house sites, ration cards and BC package assets.

He feared that if the authorities did not do it immediately, the list was likely to be tampered with after the election. The Collector told Mr. Venkatesh that they would write to the Election Commission on the proposal to distribute the assets.

Also, he clarified that tankers pressed into service by Mr. Venkatesh for distribution of water would have no problem till the time of nomination. For continuation even after the nomination would be posted to the EC since the tankers were moving in the city for the past several years and their sudden withdrawal would lead to shortage of water in some slums.