Alleging that social justice has eluded the Backward Classes (BCs) in Andhra Pradesh during the YSR Congress Partry (YSRCP) rule, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) State president K. Atchannaidu has said that the BC Declaration, scheduled to be released by party national president N. Chandrababu Naidu and JSP president Pawan Kalyan at the Jai Ho BC Mahasabha near Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU) in Guntur on March 5, will have the fool-proof measures to make the communities stronger in all spheres.
Leaders of a joint committee led by former Finance Minister and TDP Polit Bureau member Yanamala Ramakrishnudu and comprising K. Atchannaidu, Kollu Ravindra, Anagani Satya Prasad, Panchumarthi Anuradha, Duvvarapu Rama Rao, Beeda Ravi Chandra and Veeranki Guru Murthy from the TDP and JSP’s B. Srinivas Yadav and P. Mahesh and representatives of various BC associations held detailed discussions on the subject at the TDP central office near Mangalagiri on Monday (March 4) to give the final shape to the document.
Addressing the media, Mr. Atchannaidu said that the BCs had been the backbone of the TDP for decades and the party always fulfilled the commitments to the socio-economic empowerment of the BCs.
“The BCs have remained politically backward and their dependence on traditional vocations (due to the inability to adopt modern technologies) stifled their advancement. They are bearing the brunt of the inequalities caused by the economic policies,” Mr. Atchannaidu said.
Mr. Ramakrishnudu stressed in the committee meeting that it was time a BC caste census was conducted to better target the welfare schemes for the eligible beneficiaries. “Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has impeded the political empowerment of BCs by reducing their quota in the local bodies from 34% to 24%,” he alleged.
The BC Declaration would contain the measures to be taken by the Central and the State governments for the uplift of BCs with a focus on the caste-wise support required to be extended, and how the TDP-JSP combine planned to go about it.
