The Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee has demanded that the State Government conduct elections to water users associations, distributory committees and project committees in a democratic manner so that farmers elect the representatives of their choice to these bodies.
The APCC alleged that the Government was nominating the ruling Telugu Desam Party members as president, vice-president and other key posts of these grassroots level entities instead of conducting elections. This, the Congress alleged, exposed the Government’s attempts to dole out benefits to the ruling party leaders and cadre using funds assured by the World Bank, the JICA and other agencies for taking up projects in the State.
A delegation of the APCC led by its president N. Raghuveera Reddy called on Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan on Thursday and submitted a memorandum on the issue. They wanted the Governor to intervene in the matter and direct the Government to conduct elections rather than unilaterally nominating the members to these crucial bodies.
There was unrest in the farming community about the manner in which the Government went back on its promise of loan waiver to all, failure to release input subsidy and crop insurance amounts in time and forcible land acquisition in the name of developmental projects. The ruling party, the Congress alleged, was not conducting the elections to water users associations and other bodies as it was apprehensive of its prospects owing to the “anti farmer” policies it had adopted since the past 15 months.
“The Government is working against the spirit of the Andhra Pradesh Farmers’ Management of Irrigation Systems Act 1997 in nominating its party members to the key posts. The Government is ridiculing the principles of democracy in the process,” Mr. Raghuveera Reddy alleged. He wanted the Governor to take the initiative in scrapping the bodies constituted by nominated members and initiate steps to conduct elections in a democratic manner.
