Netas not discharging constitutional duties

Musheerabad: The Indian Constitution is being made a mockery of by the current rulers, criticised a former judge of Supreme Court, Sudarshan Reddy. Justice Reddy was addressing a state-level meeting of Telangana writers’ forum held at Sundaraiah Vignan Kendram at Baghlingampally here on Sunday. Apart from Sudarshan Reddy, prominent Tamil writer Poorva, writers Sivakamini, J Jagannatham and A Vinayak Reddy participated in the meeting.

Elaborating his charge, the former judge expressed dismay over the utter disregard of constitutional spirit by the current rulers of the state. The self-respect of Telangana which was restored due to the sacrifices of Telangana martyrs is being lost gradually in the state, he lamented. The government darbar is full of sycophants, he said. Expressing grief over the current situation, he lamented that the people who question are being suppressed by those who have an oath to protect constitutional rights of people. He expressed his anguish at the fall of all democratic institutions which have been preserved for the last 70 years.

Prof Vinayak Reddy said that the government is paying least attention to the university education. He alleged that the government had promised Rs 200 crore for university centenary celebrations, but it spent only Rs 50 crore. No university in the state has a governing body and recruitments to professor posts have not been done in the last four years. Referring to the recent statement by caretaker minister KTR that Rs 7,000 crore was allotted for healthcare alone, he refuted the statement, saying that 60 per cent of the total allocation was not at all spent. He criticised the TRS government for not fulfilling its promise of building 100-bed hospitals, better than NIMS, at each district and mandal centers. Most of the promises made on education and healthcare also remain unfulfilled, he alleged.

Prof Jayadev Thirumala Rao, who presided over the meeting, said political leaders have turned into investors and are working only for personal gains. He expressed his anguish at the failure of their efforts to save Prof Sai Baba, who suffers from 90 per cent physical impairments, from being imprisoned. He questioned why, “Jaya Jayahe Telangana,” song is not declared as the official state song. The writers who spoke at the meeting also observed that Bahujan literature is being gradually replaced by political literature in the state.