Naidu feels people's pulse at gram sabha

By Our Staff Reporter

ELURU, JUNE 4. The Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababau Naidu, on Monday ensured people's participation in the two-hour-long gram sabha at Telikacharla in Nallajarla mandal of West Godavari district during the Mahila Sisu Janmabhoomi programme.

Mr. Naidu saw that the performance of the Sarpanch, the School Education Committee Chairperson, the WUA president and literacy volunteers came under a close scrutiny. He repeatedly asked the crowd to give him the feedback on their performance.

The Chief Minister wanted to see for himself the performance of the Sarpanch, Mr. Ch. Sivaramakrishna Rao, in conducting the gram sabha. Then he summoned the WUA president to present his `progress report' on maintenance of canal systems within his jurisdiction. In a bid to cross-check the claims of the WUA chief, he even asked the crowd whether the sarpanch had undertaken works relating to removal of hyacinth in canals and desiltation works in the tanks nearby. To his utter chagrin, the crowd replied in the negative. He asked the WUA president to improve his performance.

Mr. Naidu counselled the people of the village located in the upland area of the district to actively take part in the ``Neeru- Meeru'' programme and check depletion of the groundwater table.

Then came the turn of the School Education Committee chairman. Mr Naidu questioned him as to why the dropout rate was high in the local school and sought to know the steps taken by the committee to reverse the trend. When the committee chief fumbled, the Chief Minister turned to the womenfolk and sought to know the reasons for the increasing dropout rate.

A literacy volunteer reasoned that over 60 students dropped out of the school as it was located 5 km away from their habitation. Turning nostalgic, Mr Naidu recalled that he had gone to elementary school located 2 km away and high school 7 km away from his village in Chittoor district on foot. An aged woman from the nearby weaker sections colony told Mr Naidu: ``Those days are gone. Now nobody will go to the school if it is situated away from their village.'' She said she had also stopped sending her grandson as the school was away from their colony. She complained that nothing had come forth despite their representation to the local MLA, Mr Kondreddi Viswanatham, and the MP from the Eluru constituency, Mr Bolla Bulli Ramaiah, for opening a school in their colony.

Not satisfied with the replies offered by the women, the Chief Minister chose to directly interact with dropouts. Mr Naidu called 7-year-old T. Kedaresh, threw his hand around the body and gently asked him as to why he had discontinued his studies. The boy said he had stopped going to school and was engaged in grazing cattle by his parents. He said his elder brother was also working as a watchman in mango orchards. When he evinced interest in studies, the Chief Minister told the district Collector, Ms Poonam Malakondaiah, to take steps for admitting him in a residential school.

The Chief Minister noticed that the village was woefully lagging behind in literacy. He announced that the rate of literacy in the village had registered at 49 per cent as against the State average of 61 per cent.

Mr Naidu pointed out that in the Chintalapudi assembly segment, represented by the Minister for Major Industries, Mr Kotagiri Vidyadhara Rao, in the district the rate of literacy was conspicuously low.

In a bid to rate the performance of the village in family planning, the Chief Minister tried to spot the men who had undergone vasectomy. But to his surprise, be could found none from the gathering. He summoned a villager, Mr M Gandhi, and asked him whether he had undergone family planning, he replied that he got his wife undergo the operation. Mr Naidu asked Mr Gandhi to tell his male brethren to undergo vasectomy unlike him.

The Chief Minister announced a cash of Rs 5,000 to the women who had given birth to girl children and undergone family planning operation under the Girl Child Protection scheme.

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