The TRS government is diluting the SC/ST Sub Plan Act on the pretext of renaming it, CPI (M) State secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram said coming down heavily on the TRS government.
Referring to the State government’s argument that the Centre had done away with the Planning Commission, he said it is the prerogative of the State government to continue with the Planning Board and pointed out that the CPI (M)-led governments in Kerala and Tripura have decided to retain the five-year-plan based mode of development showing their commitment to uphold social justice.
Mr Veerabhadram addressed newsmen at his native Teldarpally in Khammam rural mandal on Sunday. He along with eight other party activists reached the village on Saturday night as part of their 4000-km State-wide “Mahajana Padayatra”. The party State executive meeting was held in the village late on Sunday afternoon.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Veerabhadram lambasted the TRS regime charging it with doing severe injustice to the SCs, STs and other weaker sections. “Of the total ₹10,000 crore funds earmarked under the SC/ST Sub-Plan, more than ₹9,000 crore have been diverted in the name of development projects in 2015-2016,” he charged.
The ruling party leaders are unhappy with the huge response for the ongoing Mahajana Padayatra from all sections across the State, he said. “The callous disregard of the TRS regime for women empowerment is evident from the non-inclusion of at least a single woman MLA into the State Cabinet even more than two and a half years of the TRS rule,” he said. The Mahajana Padayatra will culminate in a huge public meeting involving the Left parties, organisations representing Dalits, tribals and other weaker sections in Hyderabad on March 19.
