The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Under the tender caré of Telugu Desam Party

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 21, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Under the tender caré of Telugu Desam Party

Staff Reporter

Children of naxal victims set their sights high

STRIKING THE RIGHT NOTE: The TDP president, N. Chandrababu Naidu, playing on the guitar at NTR Model School in Gandipet on Wednesday. Photo: P. V. Sivakumar

HYDERABAD: "I do not know why my father was killed but I want to study well and become a doctor," said N. Anitha, daughter of Eswariah, who was slain by naxalites near Dharmavaram in Anantapur district.

Abdul Sharuk Baba of Khammam, whose father met a similar fate, wants to be a software engineer. So does Ravikumar from Chandampeta mandal in Nalgonda district, whose father was shot by naxalites.

Bhargava Naidu, from a village in Yellanur mandal in Anantapur, wants to become a doctor and save lives. He remembers the time (2.30 a.m.) and the date (September 7, 2004) of his father's death and does not hesitate in saying that he was murdered at the behest of a senior Congress leader.

The four children are among 48 students between Classes VI and X, whose education is now being looked after by the Telugu Desam Party. They are studying in NTR Model School, which has 138 children and is located at "Telugu Vijayam," the erstwhile TDP headquarters, 25 km from here. TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated the school at a function on Wednesday attended by several relatives of the late N.T.Rama Rao. Among the family members were NTR's sons -- Jaikrishna, Harikrishna and Ramakrishna, his daughter, N. Bhuvaneswari, and several grandchildren.

NTR's services

Mr. Naidu recalled NTR's virtues and advised students to have a goal and work towards it, keeping NTR in mind. The party would spare no effort to give them the best of education. Students would soon have access to coaching for professional courses. The principal, Jayaprakash, spoke, while the trust chairman, D. Seetharamaswamy, presented a report. Later talking to presspersons, Mr. Naidu reiterated the TDP's resolve to fulfil its obligations as a socially-responsible party in addition to being a constructive Opposition in the Assembly. He said the TDP was probably the first political party in the country to run a school. Mr. Naidu said in the past four months, over 4,200 party leaders and cadre had donated blood. The TDP now had a ready list of donors who could be called upon in cases of emergency. Blood donation camps were now a regular feature, 12 days every year, including the party founder NTR's birth and death anniversaries, his own birthday, Independence Day, State Formation Day and World Population Day.

Replying to a question, Mr. Naidu said he would visit Visakhapatnam in a day or two to have a look at the situation in the district, where in about 11 mandals, people were dying of undiagnosed fevers, water-borne diseases, malaria and even anthrax. A group of party leaders as well as a team of medical experts led by the former Minister, Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, had already gone to the area.

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