Well-known Telugu poet Venu Sankoju wants the first government that would take over the reins in Telangana, to accord top priority for creation of jobs and make the State a role model in agriculture.
In a chat with The Hindu , Mr. Sankoju who played a leading role in organising pro-Telangana protests during the movement in Nalgonda, said he had visited every mandal in the region and the grievance was the same everywhere—farmers said they were unable to grow crops and the youth complained of unemployment.
Advising politicians not to hoodwink masses with tall and impractical promises, he said: “The tragedy is we want visionaries but we have politicians.”
There is a need for such visionaries who think above regional passions for the development of both the new States post-bifurcation.
Describing the promise of a ‘Bangaru Telangana’ as a euphemism, he said there have been no jobs in Telangana for past many years. The minimum that could be done by the new government was to provide a job for every family. While pointing out that not all unemployed youth could be given a government job, he said.
Ensure sustainability“Think of a plan to ensure sustainability”, he added.
Imparting vocational skills and creating avenues for self-employment would have to be one of the focus areas. On the education front, he questioned the need for having routine degree courses.
Observing that more and more farmers were taking to cultivating cotton instead of rice and other traditional crops, Mr. Venu wanted at least two agricultural universities to be established—one each in North and South Telangana.
Regarding youth who sacrificed their lives for the cause of Telangana, he urged the government to provide a job to one of their family members.
In case there was nobody to take up a job, the government should provide either two acres of land or a house.
Though there was pro-Telangana sentiment in Nalgonda, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi was not a major force in the district.
He said the Congress-led UPA created Telangana only after it became “inevitable” and hit out at Telangana Congress leaders for having shown only “lip sympathy” to the cause.
Mr. Venu Sankoju wanted the river water sharing between the two States to be done properly.
