NRI Special: Chicago is getting for CB Naidu visit

Chicago: The Telugu Desam Party headed by former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu, which had put the state on the world map, but failed to be back in power in the last assembly elections, is revising its policies to benefit the rural people.

This was revealed by Vijaya Rama Rao, former director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and former Minister of Telugu Desam, while addressing a largely attended meeting organized by Tri-State Telugu Association, and Telugu Association of Greater Chicago, at India House and Banquets in Schaumburg, a suburb of Chicago, on June 10. The meeting was arranged to finalize arrangements to extend a warm welcome to Chandrababu Naidu at a reception and dinner to be held in his honor in Chicago on July 3.

Addressing the gathering, Vijaya Rama Rao said: “We are reshaping our policies to make their benefits reach the rural poor. The Telugu Desam Party is giving utmost importance to this aspect and seriously working to make it possible that the benefits of the progressive policies percolate into the rural areas.”

Enlisting the immediate requirements for any party to succeed in India, he said the country needed participative democracy, decentralization of power and elimination of corruption. “The planning is good, the projects taken up by the government are good, and most of the bureaucratic officials are meritorious. However, there is inadequacy in the delivery of service. Sometimes we are all helpless. The education is not within the reach of all, hospitals are not able to serve efficiently, the police are not able to do their duties. The services are not reaching people properly. There is corruption. The bureaucracy must concentrate on service delivery. The elected representatives have to be serious about their role. And that is why we need participative democracy,” he added.

He said that 600,000 villages in India could not be administered by New Delhi. Similarly 70,000 villages in Andhra Pradesh could not be governed by Hyderabad. There was need for decentralization of power and services to enable the benefits of programs and policies to reach all the people.

Recounting his own experience, he said that he was first a bureaucrat and then a politician. The Telugu Desam Party, launched by N.T. Rama Rao, strongly believed in empowering people. It brought several reforms. “Impressed by the TDP’s plans, policies, and performance, I joined it after my retirement as an officer of Indian Police Service. I was elected with a thumping majority from Khairatabad constituency unseating a longstanding leader. The TDP did several good things to people of the state and the country,” he said.

Stressing the need for decentralization of power in a democracy, he said that it was true that administrative decisions were quick in a country like China because of the centralized control. Centralized political structure and economic controls would not be suited to a democracy and India has always been a democracy. He said: “India being a democracy cannot function like China. In India, the progress is slow because the decisions have to be taken democratically. The gap between rich and poor is widening. But, ultimately democracy leads to stable progress. India is definitely progressing. India and the US are good examples of successful democracy.”

He said that India lived in the villages and 54 percent of its population was engaged in agriculture. Life of farmers and artisans was in a bad shape. While the government policies and plans were good, there was a big gap in their implementation. Their benefits were not trickling down to the poor. The theories and plans were good but their implementation was faced with inadequacies. There was need for a balance. There was need for focus. Therefore, TDP was revising, refocusing and reorganizing its policies.

He said that the regional parties were gaining strength. Governments of most of the states were being administered by regional parties now. Today there were no national parties. Even the so-called national parties like the Congress Party and the BJP were reduced to the status of regional parties. That was why coalition government at the center and the governments of states headed by regional parties had become a reality. Lately, the TDP was working for a third force at national level. Under the leadership of Chandrababu Naidu, about 10 regional parties met recently to form a third force to focus on the issues that would elevate the lives of the rural people. There was good response to Telugu Desam Party’s initiative of revising and refocusing its policies. While the central government was allocating huge funds for employment guarantee schemes, the benefits were not reaching the rural people. Consumerism was growing in the country. The Telugu Desam Party would make special efforts to improve the lives of rural poor, he concluded.

Earlier, Yugandhar Yadlapati, founder of Telugu Association of North America (TANA), who welcomed the gathering said that the Indian community in the US was a mosaic of people representing all states of the country, and they were all united as far as their support to their motherland was concerned. He said they were all looking forward to the visit of Chandrababu Naidu to the US, to accord him a grand reception and participate in the dinner in Chicago .

Hanumanth Reddy, founder of American Telugu Association (ATA), concurred with the views expressed by Yugandhar Yadlapati, and appealed to the Indian community members to participate in the grand reception and dinner being arranged to honor Chandrababu Naidu.

Chalma Reddy said that Chandrababu Naidu would be too glad to meet all the community members. He would be meeting them in groups and individually at Renaissances Convention Center in the afternoon of July 3 before he would be attending the reception and dinner at India House and Banquets in Schaumburg at 6:30 p.m. He would also meeting people after the dinner. Chalma Reddy appealed to all to participate in good numbers at the O’Hare Airport reception on July 3 and grand sendoff in the morning of July 4.

Iftekhar Shareef, FIA president, Keerti Ravoori, leaders of Tri-State Telugu Association and Telugu Association of Greater Chicago like Dr. Sudarasana Rao Akkineni, Jayachand Pallekonda, Jagadish Kanuru, Syama Pappu, Murali Meraga, Ravella Prasad, Azad Sunkavalli, and others spoke.

For more information and tickets, please call Jagadish Kanuru at (630) 627-9772, Syama Pappu at (630) 430-4769 and Chalma Reddy (630) 254-4823.