Call to political parties to act for north Andhra development

Speakers at a seminar on `What do north Andhra people seek?' held here on Saturday, urged all political parties to plunge into action to achieve development of north Andhra.

Visakhapatnam: Speakers at a seminar on `What do north Andhra people seek?’ held here on Saturday, urged all political parties to plunge into action to achieve development of north Andhra.

Observing that both the Central and State governments neglected the region by not fulfilling their promises, they also opined that those who betrayed the region should be taught a fitting lesson. The speakers also blamed the Centre for not giving the promised special package and also failing to set u p the separate railway zone.

---

Lok Satta founder N. Jayaprakash Narayan in his address said that north Andhra was blessed with all the natural resources, but lack of proper planning saw it languishing in backwardness. “A planning board should be set up and the governments should run through the district administration. Migrations are part of development but welfare of the migrants should be ensured.

Jana Sena Party political affairs committee chairman Nadendla Manohar alleged that the projects in the region were confined to foundation stones and mining mafia was looting natural resources.

Former minister Konathala Ramakrishna who presided over the seminar, said that Polavaram project should be completed immediately to trigger development.

Another former minister Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu called for chalking out an agenda for development of the region while former Vice-Chancellor of Dravidian University K.S. Chalam alleged that the lands in north Andhra were being encroached upon. There were 15 lakh people of north Andhra working in Hyderabad which reflected the sorry state of affairs here, he stated.