Volume 1, No. 5, July 2000

Gimmick master Chandrababu Naidu is in the news again. This time with his latest slogan ‘Neeru - Meeru’ which means ‘water and you’. The slogan was coined in the background of the severest water crisis in AP in the summer of 2000 with over 60 per cent of the state reeling under drought. In about 688 mandals out of the state’s total 1104, even drinking water has become a luxury and in some places people had to shell out a few rupees to get a pot of water. In most villages people traversed long distances on foot or on bullock carts to fetch a few pails of water. This, after 53 years of so-called independence and five years of much-lauded high-tech rule of the TDP in AP under the computer maniac Chandrababu Naidu.

In fact, for most of the period of the ‘successful’ rule of Naidu, the state of AP, has been reeling under severe drought, at times combined with floods and cyclones. But nothing was done by the government to construct check dams, complete the long-pending irrigation projects, de-silt the thousands of tanks and wells in the state, conserve the ground water, reduce evaporation losses and take up rain water harvesting schemes along with afforestation programmes. In 1997, the state government floated the Water Resources Development Corporation, collected over Rs 300 crore from the people by issuing bonds, yet nothing substantial came out of the venture due to the apathy and negligence of the government. The eleven rounds of the Janmabhoomi programme taken up by the government amidst much publicity and fanfare, had failed to solve any of the basic demands of the people. Even drinking water became a scarce commodity in spite of the scores of schemes announced by the government in the past five years. It is to absolve itself of all responsibility in providing the minimum needs of the people such as drinking water, irrigation, power supply and subsidised farm inputs, housing and subsidised foodgrains to the poor that the TDP government has been indulging in the gimmick of involving the people voluntarily in the Janmabhoomi programme in the name of self-help and ‘shramdan’.

In fact, Naidu’s government, during its five year rule, had done nothing to provide irrigation to an extra inch of land (on the contrary, vast tracts of fertile land have been transformed into arid deserts), nor added a single megawatt of power. Even if a tenth of the effort that had gone in for providing Internet facilities, conducting video conferences and phone-in programmes and other hyper-publicity campaigns was shown in providing drinking water and water conservation schemes, the situation would not have become so bad. The present drive of the TDP government to resolve the water crisis in the state is like the proverbial fool, who began to dig the well to get water after the hut caught fire.

As someone had correctly remarked, it is impossible for anyone to fool all the people all of the time. Even a master manipulator like Naidu has utterly failed to fool the people this time with his slogan of ‘Neeru - Meeru’ in his 12th round of the Janmabhoomi campaign from May 1st to 7th. Throughout the state, wherever the officials and politicians went, to implement the Janmabhoomi programme, they were greeted with loud protests, boycotts, gheraos and thrashings from the people. Barring Naidu’s de facto mouthpiece Eenadu and its electronic twin ETV of the media hawk and business shark Ramoji Rao, which persisted in their attempt to fool the people all the time, none of the newspapers wrote favourably regarding the Janmabhoomi programme this time. Reports poured in about widespread protests in hundreds of villages all over the state and how the entire publicity gimmick called Janmabhoomi turned out to be a damp squib.

We reproduce below a few reports of the protests which show the mood of the masses who had refused to fall prey to the manipulations of Naidu’s TDP. The gram sabhas that were conducted by the officials in the villages had thin attendance. As some paper reports pointed out, there were more officials and politicians than people at these meetings. And even those who attended, did so in order to demand old age pensions, widow pensions, drinking water supply, LPG connections, power supply, bus facility, road repairs or construction, house sites, ration cards, etc, which were promised to them but had remained unfulfilled. In areas where the Naxalite movement was strong, higher officials and political leaders did not even venture out into the villages. Minister Kadiam Srihari returned to Hyderabad from Warangal in his bullet-proof car on May 3rd itself, fearing reprisal on the occasion of the Warangal district bundh on May 4th and 5th called by the CPI (ML) [PW] in protest against the killing of 12 comrades in the Chandragiri hills.

A significant feature in the widespread protests against the government in the 12th round of the Janmabhoomi is the massive participation of women who were being fooled that Naidu’s TDP has been working for their upliftment through schemes such as Deepam, Roshni, Mahila Janmabhoomi and so on. It was women with empty pots that was a common site in these protests.

* In Jhuri village in Talamadugu mandal in Adilabad district, people boycotted the Janmabhoomi programme complaining that not a single demand of theirs was met in spite of repeated appeals during the earlier eleven rounds of the Janmabhoomi. Surveys were being conducted since 1968 for the construction of a tank in the village but work had not yet commenced. The officials had assured that work would start in March 2000 but the assurance only remained on paper. The weaker sections complained that not a single house was constructed during the five-year rule of the TDP. Women protested against the steep hike in the price of PDS rice. People of Poonaguda, Shekguda, Sherguda and Tokkiguda villages in the same mandal also boycotted the Janmabhoomi programmes, citing the same reasons. They told the officials who visited the village to first fulfill their long-pending demands and not to come to the village until then.

* In Akanapalli village in Bellampalli mandal in Adilabad, people not only boycotted the meeting but also turned militant when officials visited the village on May 6th. The officials were gheraoed and the people tried to attack an engineer. The police intervened and arrested a youth. The people raised slogans against the police and the corrupt practices of the officials and political leaders.

* The people of Raipur (K) in Adilabad district boycotted the 12th round of Janmabhoomi. When officials visited the village on May 3rd, they had to face the fury of the masses who were protesting against the non-completion of a long-pending pipeline and negligence shown in repairing the electric wires. The officials had to return hastily without holding the gram sabha.

* In Thimmapur mandal centre in Karimnagar district people boycotted the Janmabhoomi programme. The officials who visited the town were greeted with banners and cutouts condemning the anti-people policies of the government. A rally was taken up in the town raising slogans such as "We want irrigation, not software!", "We want drinking water, not Internet!" The officials who tried to hold the gram sabha meeting had to flee when people attacked them.

* Officials who were proceeding to Kanukunur and Pegadapalli in Mahamutharam mandal in Karimnagar district returned without entering the villages fearing reprisals from the irate people.

* In Jagityal mandal, at least six villages boycotted the Janmabhoomi programmes protesting against the non-fulfillment of their long-pending demands such as supply of drinking water, proper supply of power for irrigation purpose, etc., apart from demands to provide subsidised rice, fertilisers, kerosene to the rural poor.

* Husnabad town in Karimnagar has a long revolutionary tradition. It was here that the tallest Martyrs’ tower in the Indian sub-continent was constructed in memory of the fallen heroes of the People’s War. In sharp contrast with the government-sponsored Janmabhoomi, the elegantly constructed Husnabad stupam showed the vast creative power of the masses who accomplished the feat without the help of any engineers or government funds — all by themselves, through their own labour voluntarily. For a decade it served as the symbol of the revolutionary fervour and creative potential of the masses and it was pulled down by the police thugs in January this year by stealthily blasting it with dynamite. As a fitting tribute to the martyrs, the people of the town boycotted the Janmabhoomi programme.

* Boycott of the Janmabhoomi programmes was reported from several villages in all the 23 districts in AP.

Women demonstrated with empty pots in several villages in AP when officials visited the villages to conduct the Janmabhoomi programme.

* In Thimmapur mandal of Karimnagar district, women protested in large numbers in several villages by carrying empty pots on their heads and demanding the officials to fill the pots with drinking water. In some of the villages, the protests became violent. In Mogiligudem, the officials were locked up in a room and were released later by the police. The people of the village boycotted the Janmabhoomi programme.

* In Shakhapur village in Velgatoor mandal in Karimnagar, the officials had to face the wrath of the women who complained that they had to bring drinking water from a distance of 3 km from the Godavari river. They demanded the officials to provide them with drinking water or to quit the village.

* Women of Medipalli village in Jammikunta mandal in Karimnagar locked up the visiting officials in a house on May 6th. Their main grievance was non-availability of drinking water.

* People of Lambadipalli in Chigurumamidi mandal in Karimnagar gheraoed the officials demanding drinking water and streetlights. Women demonstrated with empty pots.

* People of Baswapur village in Koheda mandal in Karimnagar stopped the government officials by blocking the road with empty pots. Women participated in large numbers and demonstrated for over four hours.

* In Manthani town, women came out in large numbers to protest against the negligence shown by the government in providing safe drinking water. Contaminated water in plastic buckets was presented to the officials. Angry women shouted that the officials should consume the contaminated water to understand the gravity of the problem.

* People of Odela village in Manthani mandal in Karimnagar blocked the road for over an hour protesting against the callous attitude of the officials in providing drinking water to the village which had become acute in the past two years.

* In Nittur village of Peddapalli, the gram sabha meeting had to wind up half way due to the protests by people demanding drinking water.

* On the last day of the Janmabhoomi on May 7th, women and youth prevented the officials from holding the gram sabha in Elkathurthi mandal centre in Karimnagar for over three hours. Police resorted to a lathi charge. A minister of the state cabinet, Peddi Reddy, was supposed to visit the town. The major demand once again, that led to the violent protests, was provision of drinking water.

* At a meeting addressed by Chief Minister Naidu on May 3rd at Errapahad in Tadwai mandal of Nizamabad district, women protested against the series of anti-people policies pursued by the government. Even as Naidu began to boast that he was working hard for the development of women, some women got up and challenged him saying that the claim was a sheer lie as witnessed clearly in the scrapping of the Rs 2-a-kg-rice scheme and hiking it to a prohibitive rate of Rs 5.50 a kg. The lifting of the ban on liquor, the increase in the prices of kerosene and LPG, and the failure to provide safe drinking water were cited, among others, as examples of the anti-people stands of Naidu’s TDP. A shocked Naidu had to fumble for words when faced with the naked reality. It would be interesting to note that Naidu had to leave in fury at many places when he was unable to answer the questions raised by the people, particularly the women.

* People of Upparamalyala village in Gangadhara mandal of Karimnagar district gheraoed the officials for hours. Similar protests greeted officials in Thandoor in Sarangapur mandal, Adavi Somanapalli in Manthani, Ayttapalli in Pegadapalli mandal, etc, all in Karimnagar district.

* In the gram sabha in Indiranagar in Mancherial, women took to task the officials for failing to supply drinking water despite repeated complaints.

* The adivasis of Chinnadampur in Tiryani mandal in Adilabad district protested against the officials for neglecting the supply of drinking water. They complained that they had to travel 2 km to fetch drinking water from a stream. The situation had not improved in spite of their complaints to officials during the 11 rounds of Janmabhoomi, they said.

* The people of Batwanpalli and Perkapalli villages of Bellampalli mandal held demonstrations to protest against non-fulfillment of the drinking water supply schemes in their village.

* On May 8th, a Janmabhoomi jeep was set on fire in Ichoda mandal of Adilabad.

The above instances of protests are cited from reports from just two districts — Karimnagar and Adilabad — where the effect of the drought and the water crisis was relatively less acute. In districts such as Mahabubnagar, Anantapur, Srikakulam, etc, the situation is far more grave. There is large-scale migration from the rural areas in these districts to the towns and to other states. Cattle perished due to lack of fodder. Farmers committed suicides unable to make both ends meet. In these districts, the protests were even more violent. We are unable to collect the details of the protests in thousands of villages in the other 16 districts that were reeling under drought. One thing is clear. Janmabhoomi — the so-called panacea for the ills afflicting the people at large — has become a stinking corpse. No matter how much Naidu and the TDP try to rejuvenate it, the stench will only grow worse. The waves of protests that have swept the state in the first week of May are bound to become a mighty tornado to sweep away all pests like Chandrababu Naidu and Ramoji Rao and liberate the janmabhoomi (motherland) from the clutches of feudalism, imperialism and comprador bureaucratic capitalism.

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