CPI(M) accuses governments of Dalit neglect, plans protests for house site pattas
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has accused the Union and State governments of neglecting the welfare of Dalits, tribals, and economically weaker sections. Ch. Babu Rao, a member of the party's State secretariat, said on Sunday that the CPI(M) would intensify its agitation for the allotment of house site pattas and implementation of welfare schemes.
Mr. Babu Rao visited Devineni Gandhipuram in Payakapuram under Vijayawada's 61st Division, where he and other CPI(M) leaders interacted with residents and reviewed civic and welfare issues.
According to a press release issued by the CPI(M), residents alleged that successive governments had failed to issue house site pattas despite repeated assurances. They also claimed that the allotment of TIDCO houses and house sites for the poor had remained confined to announcements. Residents further alleged that a scheme providing up to 200 units of free electricity to Dalit and tribal households was not being implemented effectively, and complained of delays in extending welfare schemes, loans, and other benefits meant for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Babu Rao alleged that while the government was allocating vast tracts of land to corporate entities, it had failed to confer ownership rights on poor families who had been living in the colonies for decades. He accused public representatives and officials of delaying the issuance of pattas on one pretext or another.
He also criticised the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation for focusing on the beautification of major roads while neglecting civic infrastructure and basic amenities in peripheral localities inhabited by the poor. Government and municipal lands were allegedly being encroached upon even as landless families continued to await house sites, he said.
CPI(M) central city secretary Bhupathi Ramana Rao, committee member Ch. Srinivas, and local leaders Melika Srinivas, Venkateswara Rao, and Suribabu were among those present.
