Govt feels the Racha Banda pinch

The past four days during which saw obstructions in the way of the Racha Banda have ‘pinched’ the government enough that it has been forced to adopt the famed ‘soft cop, tough cop’ stance.

While Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy warned that the government will not be cowed down before the ‘threats’ of Telangana protagonists at Maheswaram, 20-point Economic Programme chairman N Tulasi Reddy at the Secretariat made appeals to the opposition, particularly the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, to reconsidering hindering the programme which was started with a good intention to solve the problems of the poor instantly without delaying any further.

Mr Tulasi Reddy expressed regrets and said that it was unfortunate that the detractors of Racha Banda chose to block it without properly understanding the underlying principle behind it.

Earlier former chief ministers came out with such programmes similar to Racha Banda he said. He gave the examples of NT Rama Rao who came out with Prajala Mungita Prabhuthvam, Nara Chandrababu Naidu with Janmabhoomi and then YS Rajasekhara Reddy with Prajapatham with a resolve to help the poor.

The Racha Banda has also been started on the same lines, with a spirit to pass on the fruits of democracy to the BPL families and it was not proper that TRS men should raise the Telangana statehood issue, Dr Tulasi Reddy said. He added that the obstructions were a hindrance to the Kiran Kumar Reddy government’s efforts to provide specific solutions for the problems of the poor through the Racha Banda.

Details of the past four days of the Racha Banda were also listed out.

Mr Tulasi Reddy started by stating that it was not as easy to construct a house as the rich did. An estimated Rs 2,500 crore worth works were to be taken up during the entire programme.

Rs 1200 crore were already released while the balance of amount would be released in stages as per the requirement.

Mr Tulasi Reddy claimed good response from the beneficiaries on the whole with 94 percent participation in all the districts. A success rate of as much as 100 percent implementation in Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra and 94 percent in Telangana has been achieved, in Mr Tulasi Reddy’s own reckoning.

He was of the opinion that the opposition, sinking the differences should join the programme keeping the view the interests of the poor beneficiaries.