ANANTAPUR : Reaffirming that the Special Category Status (SCS) is the only way for development and creating job opportunities to the youth in the State, YSR Congress president YS Jaganmohan Reddy has said that all avenues will be explored to mount pressure on the Centre to get SCS. The last salvo will be resigning of YSRC MPs from Parliament in protest, he said.Speaking at the 10th Yuva Bheri in Anantapur on Tuesday, the Leader of Opposition said that the fight for SCS would be intensified as it is the only way to provide jobs to the youth in the State.
He said investments will come to the State not by the face value of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Industrialists will come in droves to set up shop in the State if the government is ready to give incentives to them, he said. Naidu, who has been telling that SCS is a closed chapter, should realise that it was he who had demanded that the period of SCS be 15 years and not five years. To show how Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are deceiving people of the State, the YSRC screened video clips of speeches made by them in the run-up to the 2014 general elections. The changing tunes of Naidu, who said SCS was not a wonder drug and it is better to settle for the special package, was also screened.
“This shows the mindset of Naidu. He has been employing his use-and-throw policy and ignoring all the poll promises, including unemployment allowance. When we have been raising the voice for SCS, he has been deviating the topic by trying to put up a meek defence stating that the Fourteenth Finance Commission has not favoured according SCS to the State,” Jagan said.
The fact is that 11 States are still enjoying special status. The amount granted to the 11 States with a population of 6.2 per cent of the country’s total is `1.32 lakh crore. However, AP, which has 4.08 per cent of country’s population, was given just `46,000 crore. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the Centre stated that SCS for the 11 States would be continued, he pointed out.
“We have been fighting for getting SCS. The YSRC held dharnas and hunger strike at Mangalagiri and Guntur. My fast was foiled ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Vijayawada. When we called for a bandh demanding SCS, the Chief Minister tried to foil it,” he said. Reiterating that SCS is the right of the State which was announced in Parliament and endorsed by the BJP as well, he said there is no compromise on the issue. SCS was offered in lieu of foregoing Hyderabad, which houses employment generating industries, and such a precious clause should not be foregone and settle for some insignificant package, he said.
Padayatra from Nov 2
YSRC chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy has announced that he will start his padayatra from November 2. It will start from Idupulapaya of Kadapa district and conclude at Ichchapuram in Srikakulam district, covering over 3,000 km in six months. The Yuva Bheri programme aimed at highlighting the importance of SCS, will hereafter be taken up by the local leadership and constituency coordinators. Main objective of padayatra is to highlight the failures of Chandrababu Naidu government and explain to people about YSRC’s Navaratnas.