AP files implead petition in SC on freebies

Vijayawada: The YSR Congress party that formed the government after getting a landslide majority in the 2019 assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh filed an implead petition in the Supreme Court on Tuesday after the apex court took a serious view of the freebies being announced by political parties in elections time.

The YSRC stated that the bifurcation of erstwhile AP in 2014 caused widespread economic deprivation in this state. The new AP inherited 58 per cent of the combined state’s population but only 45 per cent of the combined state’s revenues.

It said: "The policy paralysis during 2014-19 (under the TD term) resulted in many crucial sectors such as education, health and agriculture performing poorly. A NABARD survey in 2016-17 indicated indebtedness among agricultural households was as high as 76 per cent, against the national average of 47 per cent. Gross enrolment rate for AP in primary education was the lowest in the country at 84.48 per cent against the national average of 99. On the liabilities front, 1,85,926 accounts of SHGs became overdue and 84,056 accounts became NPAs."

In such a scenario, the petitioner said, it was essential that the new government implemented impactful programmes to mitigate the distress among the people. Accordingly, the state government looked at the education sector and took up upgradation and modernisation of infrastructural facilities in government schools under Mana Badi-Nadu Nadu programme. The government listed out a series of welfare schemes like Jagananna Ammavodi, YSR Rythu Bharosa and the YSR Sunna Vaddi Panta  Runalu.

The petitioner said the governments and their policies play a crucial role in facilitating socio-economic progress. The stated aim of the Father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi, was to wipe every tear from every eye.

Every elected government, it said, was having the responsibility to work in this direction. “As the elected governments enjoy the trust and confidence of the people and are answerable to the people, they should effectively formulate and implement programmes to ensure inclusive progress.”

The petitioner also said that it would not be appropriate to regard the initiatives of the governments formulated in accordance with the principles fundamental to governance, enunciated in part-IV of the Constitution of India, in areas such as education, health, woman empowerment, housing, poverty uplift and support to the old and needy as “freebies.”