Press Releases Archive

Lok Satta Party welcomes Panchayat service cadre

The Lok Satta Party today welcomed the Union Government decision to constitute a panchayat service cadre to ensure proper implementation of Union-Government sponsored schemes.

Talking to the media, party leaders Bandaru Rammohan Rao and V. Vijayender Reddy expressed happiness over 20 of the 23 districts of the State being chosen under the proposal. They wanted the Government to constitute panchayat clusters so that all of them would be eligible for appointment of new personnel.

The Union Government envisages appointment of four officials in panchayats with a population of more than 5,000 and all panchayats in naxal-affected districts. Since panchayats cannot be merged pending the 2011 population census, the Lok Satta would like the State Government to form panchayat clusters so that most panchayats stand to gain with the infusion of additional personnel.

The Lok Satta leaders said that additional personnel be utilized to strengthen the village secretariat set-up and provide better civic services. The secretariat set-up established in 2001 has failed for want of staff.

They pointed out that since there has been an increased flow of funds from the Union Government to panchayats, there is scope for funds being siphoned off. To ward off such a situation, the Lok Satta leaders suggested the appointment of an ombudsman at the district level. In addition, if the Union Government were to devolve funds on district governments, better services could be rendered. If people are thus empowered, they will not turn naxalites, they added.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010 - 16:20

Lok Satta condemns Pandu’s murder

Lok Satta Party today condemned the brutal murder of TDP leader Chalasani Venkateswara Rao (Pandu) in Hyderabad last night and demanded that the culprits be brought to justice.

In a media statement, Party leader Bandaru Rammohana Rao said that the traditional parties should assume responsibility for such incidence since they aided and abetted criminalization of politics in their bid to capture power at any cost.

Without political parties’ connivance there wouldnot be land grabbings and settlements and organized crime. The situation is compounded by undue government interference in the day to day functioning of the police. The Lok Satta leader said that the situation could be remedied only by a return to ethical political leadership.

Monday, September 27, 2010 - 22:14

Giving merchant power status to Hindujas harmful: Dr. JP

Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan said today that the Government move to extend merchant power status to the Hinduja Power Project at Visakhapatnam is highly detrimental to State’s interests.

In a media statement, Dr. JP pointed out that the State Government, which allocated land at a highly subsidized rate and facilitated coal linkage, is entitled to buy the entire power generated at the Hinduja plant at the price charged by NTPC’s Simhadri power plant, as agreed upon earlier. If it now concedes merchant power status to the Hinduja project, it will have to reconcile itself to allocation of a fraction of the power it produces.

The 1000-mw plant produces on an average 20 million units of power a day. If the State Government has to buy the entire Hinduja power at even one rupee more per unit than that charged by NTPC’s Simhadri plant, the extra burden works out to Rs.2 crore a day or more than Rs.700 crore a year.

Dr. JP once again faulted the Government for planning to establish a power generation capacity of nearly 46,000 mw against the requirement of about 15,000 mw. Of the 46,000 mw planned, 28000 mw will come from merchant power plants.

Why should the Government dispossess people of their precious land and subject them to unwarranted pollution when there is no need for such massive power generation, asked Dr. JP.

The power exported from merchant power plants will facilitate industrialization and job creation in other States. The Government with its skewed priorities sees nothing wrong in inflicting unwarranted suffering on the people of the State, Dr. JP commented.

The Lok Satta will soon constitute a panel of experts to go into the whole gamut of electricity generation issues, and suggest a rational, viable, environment and people-friendly policy for new power plants.

Sunday, September 26, 2010 - 12:57

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