Human Rights Forum in favour of Andhra Pradesh's three-capital plan, seeks help for poor
VIJAYAWADA:The Human Rights Forum (HRF) has demanded the State government to provide livelihood to the landless poor, build labour intensive small-scale and cottage industries, handover cultivable land with immediate effect, restore cultivable land to farmers and engage the landless workers in restoration work like building of roads and bridge on the River Krishna.
The government must provide necessary infrastructure, take immediate short and long term measures to restore the economy, peace and normalcy in that region, the HRF said. A three-member HRF team visited Tulluru, Rayapudi, Velagapudi Undavalli and Nidamarru villages in the Amaravathi area of Guntur district on February 22 and interacted with the locals.
In a press release on Monday, HRF said it is in principle favours decentralisation of development and governance and is of the firm belief that it helps, among other things, address the problem of regional imbalance that the State is confronted with time and again.
"In 2014, we had opposed setting up of the capital at Amaravati as it was an unsustainable proposal and we stand by that decision. From the beginning, the previous government sold an impossible dream to the people of Amaravati and played havoc with their lives," the press release reads.
"In the name of capital formation, the previous government managed to obtain lands from dalits and other marginalized communities. The people who were earlier working in their own fields began to be engaged in construction work after the capital region development started. As the present government took charge, it cancelled the old contracts and did not enter into new ones. The local workforce thereby lost work and have been left with no alternative but to seek work elsewhere," the HRF said.
Earlier, the local community had rented out their buildings to labours who were engaged in the capital development work. Once the government called off the works, the migrant work force and employees left the region.
This also had a rippling effect leading to a substantial loss of income to the villagers, including small-time traders, vegetable and fruit vendors, the HRF said. The HRF urged the government to rise to the occasion and bail out the people who are undergoing a lot of pressure. Transparency and consultation are the hallmark of good governance, it said.