While on the ‘Aikyatha Vijayapadam‘ padayatra on Monday, retired IAS officer G. Vijaya Kumar came up with an ‘Ongole Declaration’ in order to organise the downtrodden sections of society and emancipate them from poverty.
The former Prakasam District Collector on a ‘Tada to Tuni’ walkathon covered over 1,000 kilometres. Meeting over a lakh people from over 500 villages during the padayatra so far, he took charge in organising the youth into groups with the purpose resolving their issues at the grassroots level by asserting their socio-economic rights.
Addressing a public meeting here called ‘Adhika Jana Aakansha Sadasu’, he said: ‘‘I will be in your midst and contribute in improving your living condition,” he declared amid loud cheers from the assembled audience.
He said that ₹5,000 crore should be earmarked per year for the creation of self employment opportunities for the youth belonging to SC, ST, OBC and minority communities and social security pension should be hiked to ₹5,000 per month.
The former State Planning Secretary demanded distribution of three acres of cultivable land to each and every farm worker as house sites at the rate of three cents in villages and two cents in cities and towns as minority groups continued to confront land-related issues at the grassroots level. He emphasised that reservation for SCs and STs should be extended to the private sector as well and traditional fishing rights of tribal people should be restored across village water bodies.
Additionally, he proposed that a revolving fund of ₹30 lakh should be provided to the self help groups started by women. At the end of the foot march, he formulated an integrated action plan to come up with solutions for the problems faced by these sections of society in an holistic manner.
