Hyderabad
The YSR Congress party government has “empowered and restored the self-respect” of backward classes over the past three-and-a-half years, Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said on Wednesday as he led a massive outreach programme, ‘Jaiho BC Mahasabha’.
“These sections (backward classes) were really lagging behind in all aspects, but now they are totally empowered as our government has provided them confidence and restored their self-respect,” Jagan told hundreds of thousands people present for the event at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium in Vijayawada.
According to the YSRCP, nearly 100,000 people from backward communities from across 175 assembly constituencies in the state attended the programme.
Highlighting the welfare schemes taken up by his government for the backward classes, Jagan said out of the total expenditure of ₹319,227 crore, his government has spent ₹2,50,357 crore (80%) on the empowerment of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and minority communities under various Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and Non-DBT schemes in the last three years.
Jagan recalled meeting members of at least 130 OBC sections during his statewide padayatra in 2017-18 to understand their issues. “Later, in February 2019, the YSRCP held an OBC garjana rally at Eluru and came out with an OBC declaration, in which we promised to empower them economically and politically,” he said.
Stating that he had fulfilled 90% of his promises made to the backward classes, Jagan pointed out that at least 82,000 OBCs were given political empowerment in the last three years – starting from the cabinet ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs, mandal parishad and zilla parishad members, sarpanches, ward members, municipal councillors and in nominated positions.
“Today, all these people have turned up to the meeting like a sea of humanity. The backward classes are in Jagan’s heart and Jagan is their hearts. Our relationship is beyond comprehension of anybody,” the chief minister said, amid a thunderous applause.
Jagan said Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu should be reminded that empowering BCs didn’t mean giving them iron boxes, sewing machines and other implements.
“In 2014, Naidu made 114 promises to the OBCs, but he didn’t fulfil even 10% of them. He promised agriculture loan waiver schemes, schemes for self-help group women, fee reimbursement and iPads for OBCs students. But he didn’t do anything. But we have implemented whatever we promised. We proved that BC does not mean Babu Class or Business class but its backbone class,” he said.
Stating that his government had appointed OBC commission on a permanent basis, the chief minister said 50 percent of the nominated posts to BCs, SCs, STs and minorities. “This is what is called making BCs as backbone communities,” he said.
