With salaries of Anganwadi workers due, Chandrababu Naidu spends over 1 crore on protest

As per India Today, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has spent over Rs. 1 crore for the transportation of his supporters to the National Capital to attend the protest against the Centre’s decision to scrap the Special Category Status. India Today accessed an official letter containing details of the expenses of two trains, one from Srikakulam and the other from Anantapur. The trains have been arranged for the transportation of the TDP supporters who want to attend the day-long protest of chief minister Naidu.

What is particularly shocking is that Chandrababu Naidu has spent this sizeable amount for protest even as the Anganwadi workers have been denied their due. As per the state secretary of the Anganwadi workers and helpers association, “Since 2014, we have never received our salaries on time. Thousands of workers haven’t received salaries for the past three months. Bills ranging into hundreds of crores are pending.” The secretary also said, “We informed the government about it multiple times but they haven’t cleared the bills. Workers are crowd funding in order to pay rents for our centres. We are happy that he has announced these schemes but those who have worked should be paid first.”

Andhra Pradesh chief minister has been facing the heat over a number of horrible decisions he made in the recent past. His populist policies have put the state of Andhra Pradesh in a spot of bother. Recently, he declared that couples who have more than two children will be offered incentives. This is a particularly bizarre declaration in a country which has been battling overpopulation for decades. Naidu has also repealed those rules which prohibited those having more than two children from contesting local body elections. This appears more like an appeasement device for there is no element of comprehensible reasonableness behind this absurd declaration. India has been battling the issue of overpopulation and has been trying to find ways to ensure that the citizens of the country embrace family planning and population control. Chandrababu Naidu’s move is diametrically opposed to the need of the hour.

Towards the fag end of last year, the apathetic attitude of Chandrababu government against farmers and their woes in Andhra Pradesh had also come to light. It had been reported that a Kurnool farmer had to beg in order to procure bribe amount and get his “land dispute” resolved. The farmer, along with his wife and children was spotted in Velugodu Mandal headquarters. He was seen holding a banner asking for donations from people in order to bribe revenue officials. This was particularly disturbing and displayed the distress which the farmers in the state of Andhra Pradesh are facing.

It is clear that misgovernance is reaching its peak in Andhra Pradesh on account of populist measures taken by chief minister Chandrababu Naidu. It is clear that Andhra Pradesh has lost touch with the ground realities. His apathetic attitude shows that he is interested only in making grand announcements without bringing a substantial change in the issues that the state is facing. The manner in which such huge sums are being spent in transporting the TDP supporters to Delhi even as the Anganwadi workers are finding it hard to make ends meet goes on to show the insensitive nature of the incumbent government in Andhra Pradesh.