Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

BJP joins ranks of Velugu critics

By Our Staff Reporter

ELURU: NOV. 29 The BJP, the principal ally of the ruling TDP, on Saturday joined chorus with Opposition parties in demanding cancellation of the Government-sponsored Velugu survey meant for selection of beneficiaries for implementing welfare schemes initiated by the State Government.

Addressing a press conference here, the BJP State vice-president, Somu Veera Raju, said his party's feedback had corroborated the criticism from certain quarters that the Velugu survey was erratic and full of irregularities. The Velugu survey could not be a dependable tool for poverty eradication in view of such criticism, he felt.

The BJP leader said it was the responsibility of the State Government to heed the criticism from different quarters and see that the welfare schemes intended to benefit the poorest of the poor were not derailed. Citing instances of "irregularities'' in his native village (Katheru) near Rajahmundry, he said some married couples failed to figure in the Velugu survey lists. Instead, a section of unmarried youths found their way into the lists, he explained.

Saying that students from different colleges were engaged by the Velugu authorities for carrying out the survey, he said the effort proved to be a "childish exercise'' in many parts of the State as they prepared the lists without going to houses and preparing reliable data.

Mr. Veera Raju highlighted the need to get the survey results cross-checked by the Government authorities who included the village secretaries and representatives from Mandal Revenue Offices. In Pondicherry, the survey was so accurate that one surveyor was entrusted with the job covering 250 families, he said.

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