Congress will fight for the rights of Adivasis in Telangana: Bhatti

Hyderabad, March 19: Telangana Congress Legislature Party leader Bhatti Vikramarka accused BRS Govt of denying Adivasis and Tribals of their right to forest resources and behaving like a colonial government in treating them.

Bhatti Vikramarka made these comments after interaction with local villagers in Pulimadugu and other areas in the Khanapur constituency as part of the ‘Haath Se Haath Jodo’ Yatra People’s March which entered its fourth day on Sunday. He began his padayatra from Indervelli on Sunday morning and he was accorded a warm traditional welcome in Pulimadugu village. The women of the village apprised him of the problems they have been facing.

The villagers highlighted that they have not received houses, pensions, jobs or even bathrooms. They did not get any benefit from any of the welfare schemes. They also mentioned that they have been facing problems in bringing soil from the forest and firewood due to officials demanding bribes.

The Adivasi and Tribal women of Indravelli told the CLP leader that they voted for TRS in the past. However, now they regret the same as their problems remained unattended in the last nine years.

Bhatti Vikramarka assured the villagers that the Congress party would come to power soon and that it would solve all the problems faced by the Tribals and Adivasis. He mentioned that the officials of the current government are not helping the villagers and are only interested in taking bribes.

A woman of Kummari Thanda told Bhatti that the officials were not allowing them to do caste work, which they consider their profession and way of life. “This is our way of life. This is our culture. No one should interfere with it to stop it,” she said.

Bhatti Vikramarka promised that the Congress party would be with them and fight for their rights. He said that once Congress forms its government, all their problems would be solved and they would receive houses and a share in all welfare schemes.

Later, addressing a press conference in Kummari Thanda, Bhatti Vikarmarka said that people were bringing many problems to his attention during the padayatra. He accused the State Government of taking away the forest wealth and not allowing the tribals to take soil from the forest to make pots, draw drinking water, firewood or even dug borewells. He said that the BRS Government was acting as if it is the government of another country, and cases were filed against people for fishing in Jannaram. Is this British, French or Portugul Govt or Telangana Govt? he asked. He also pledged that the Congress Party will fight for the rights of Adivasis and stand by them.

“Mission Bhagiratha is a big scam”

He said nearly Rs. 42,000 crores were spent in the name of Mission Bhagiratha claiming that the scheme would provide drinking water to all households in the State. However, he said that the scheme proved to be a major scam as a majority of houses are not getting water. Citing examples, he said in Dasnapur Andugoda people were forced to manually draw water from wells. However, he said tanks were constructed for the namesake only to raise the bills. He also criticized the BRS government for weakening the ITDA, which is responsible for the welfare of tribals.

He said people expected to get pattas on Podu lands. However, they are not allowed to enter the forests to either get soil or water. They are not only being denied access to the resources but a large conspiracy has been hatched to permanently drive them away from forest areas. He said the rights of Tribals over forests were undisputed.

He expressed concern over the impact of the Dharani land portal on weaker sections of society. He said that people of weaker sections lost lakhs of acres of land due to Dharani and lost the rights they had for years. He pledged that the Congress party would cleanse Dharani when it comes to power.

He also criticized the sitting BJP MP Soyam Bapurao for not bringing any funds from the Centre and failing to develop the Khanapur constituency. Similarly, the BRS MLA of Khanapur does not even break coconut without taking a commission.

Speaking about the damage to crops due to recent untimely rains, Vikramarka demanded that the State Govt conduct proper enumeration and pay adequate compensation.

“BJP is dividing the country with hatred”

He accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of dividing the country with hatred and distributing the wealth of the country to a select few. He claimed that under the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, economic disparities between the rich and poor have only increased. He further alleged that the BJP was causing economic inequality in the country. He said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been working towards uniting the nation.

Bhatti Vikarmarka said that his People’s March as part of the ‘Haath Se Haath Jodo’ Yatra was a continuation of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, a movement started by Gandhi to unite the nation. He said that he undertook the padayatra from Adilabad to Khammam on the instructions of AICC.

“TSPSC Chairman, Member Secretary must be removed”

Later, Bhatti Vikramarka participated in the protest organized under the auspices of OU JAC and NSUI in Kummari Tanda to protest against the paper leakage of the TSPSC exam question papers. Speaking on the occasion he said that the State Government has drowned the hopes of the unemployed with paper leakage, and demanded that the TSPSC Board Chairman and Members Secretary should be removed immediately. He said that the BJP and BRS were co-thieves in the case of TSPSC paper leakage.

The CLP leader said that the KCR government has put the lives and careers of over 30 lakhs unemployed youth at stake. Accusing KCR Govt of endangering the lives of the unemployed, he said that government that appointed the TSPSC board should also resign taking moral responsibility. (Maxim News)

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