BRS Sets Sight On Increasing Youth Members

HYDERABAD: The BRS is gearing up to undertake a special membership drive to enrol students and youths when the new academic session commences in June, with a preparatory exercise on Tuesday launched for party functionaries and youth wings.

Sources said that the party is seeking to attract a large number of youngsters in the run-up to the polls scheduled for December. With the party leaders set to be occupied for 21 days starting June 2 in view of the Telangana Formation Day decennial celebration, the student enrolment drive is likely to be held in the last week of June or the first week of July.

The BRS has 63 lakh registered members in state. Sources said an analysis of the data found that the members in the age group of 18 to 35 years were fewer than those in the 35 to 70-year age group, accounting for less than 25 per cent of the total.

The party leadership found that not laying special emphasis on enrolling students and youths was the reason for poor membership, and decided to reach out to students to strengthen its base.

In March, BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao had directed the cadre to recruit students and youths when the new academic session starts, directing the party’s student and youth wings to undertake a membership registration drive and organise programmes to welcome Intermediate and professional course students.

Rama Rao had also directed MLAs and district leaders to hold ‘Atmeeya Sammelanams’ in constituencies for students and youths, to explain to them the welfare measures undertaken by the BRS for them over the past nine years.

As part of this agenda, the BRS is seeking to highlight the filling up of 2.3 lakh government job openings through direct recruitments, providing 17 lakh jobs in the private sector through TS-iPASS, tripling IT jobs from 3.23 lakh to around 9 lakh currently.

The party will highlight how the government spent thousands of crores of rupees every year for offering scholarships and fee reimbursements to students to pursue higher education and professional courses, setting up hundreds of residential schools, junior colleges, degree colleges for SCs, STs, BCs and minorities, and setting up a new government medical college for every district.