Is Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, running a government or a private army, asked TDP general secretary, Nara Lokesh, on Thursday.
When the Anganwadi workers and helpers who are on an agitational path, met Lokesh during his Yuva Galam pada yatra here, he expressed solidarity with them and felt that it is really atrocious that the State Government is harassing the Anganwadis who are on the agitational path in a democratic way to press for their genuine demands. Who has given the right to the Government to break the locks of the Anganwadi centres, he asked.
The Anganwadi workers informed Lokesh that the State Government is acting in a very cruel manner with them and the Anganwadi centers have been forcibly occupied by breaking the locks. Illegal cases are being registered against them, they told Lokesh.
The Anganwadis wanted regularisation of their services with a minimum wage of Rs 26,000 per month and some retirement benefits besides payment of pension. This apart, they want the Supreme Court judgment on gratuity be implemented and promotions for all the eligible. The Anganwadis also informed Lokesh that Travelling Allowances (TD) and Dearness Allowances (DA) have been pending payment since 2017 and these dues should be cleared immediately.
Responding to the Anganwadi workers and helpers, Lokesh said that the TDP extends its support to their ongoing agitation and promised to lift all the illegal cases registered against them now once the TDP-Jana Sena combine forms the next government. All their genuine demands will be solved by holding discussions with the union leaders by the coming TDP regime, he said and stated that under the able leadership of TDP supremo, Chandrababu Naidu, the coming democratic government will see to it that Anganwadis will not come onto the roads for their demands.
When the villagers of Kothuru complained to Mr Lokesh that the YSRCP Government is completely ignoring their problems and is not providing even basic facilities like drinking water and roads, Lokesh said that Mr Jagan does not like the poor. Except openly claiming ‘my SCs and my STs’, he never tried to solve their problems, Lokesh said and assured them that once the TDP-Jana Sena is into power in the coming elections all their issues will be solved immediately.
The villagers of Kattupalem and Somalingapalem met Lokesh at Yelamanchili ‘Y’ Junction and told him that even basic amenities like street-lights, roads and drainage are not provided to them by this Government. Though Rs 120 cr was sanctioned by the TDP regime, the present Government has not spent even a single pie to solve these issues, they said.
Jagan has totally destabilised the local bodies, Lokesh said, adding that this Government has even looted the funds released by the Centre for the local bodies. “We will certainly strengthen these local bodies once we are back in power and all the works taken up by the earlier TDP government will be completed,” Lokesh told the villagers.
