Naming Ambedkar Videsi Vidyonnati scheme after Jagan condemned

Ongole (Prakasam District): Telugu Desam Party leaders in Prakasam district condemned the renaming of Dr Ambedkar Videsi Vidyonnati scheme after Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and called it a heinous act. They staged a protest led by SC Cell district president Chundi Syam in front of the district Collectorate in Ongole on Monday.

Party leaders Dr Raj Vimal Gurrala, Eddu Sasikanth Bhushan, Pasumarti Haggaiah Raj, Nalam Narsamma and others said that Dr Ambedkar is being respected all over the world and his birth anniversary, April 14 is being celebrated as Knowledge Day. But the State government has insulted the legend by renaming the education scheme as Jagananna Videsi Vidya Deevena, they added.

The leaders called the renaming of the scheme as an attempt to attack Ambedkar by the caste-arrogant government. They said Dr Ambedkar Videsi Vidyonnati scheme is recognised in a number of universities in the world and hundreds of students benefitted from it. They observed that as the government is not implementing the scheme for the last three years and Dalit students are starting to demand an explanation, the hasty YSRCP government reintroduced the scheme but under the name of Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The TDP leaders submitted a representation to District Collector AS Dinesh Kumar, demanding the government to rename the scheme to its original name, 'Dr BR Ambedkar Videsi Vidyonnati scheme'. They warned that they will launch agitation in association with all Salit fronts and organisations, if the government fails to implement their advice.

TDP town president Kothari Nageswara Rao, State secretary Kamarajugadda Kusumakumari, SC Cell leaders Navuri Kumar, Gollapudi Baburao, Gone Mary Ratnakumari, and others also participated in the programme.