Villagers' bid to halt Amma Hastam

Merger of Jarajapupeta into Nellimerla opposed Vizianagaram: Tension prevailed in Jarajapupeta village once again when the agitated villagers made an unsuccessful attempt to disrupt the Amma Hastam meeting by MLA Baddukonda Appalanaidu on Monday. It may be recalled that the villagers of Jarajapupeta of Nellimerla mandal have been agitating against the merger of the village into Nellimerla and changing it to Nagarapanchayat. They have been staging phased out agitation against the decision in front of the panchayat office. They tried to stop the MLA from entering the village. However, as both the MLA and the villagers stuck to their stand, the police arranged heavy bandobust for the Amma Hastham programme that took place on Monday. Earlier in the day, the protesting villagers took out a half-naked procession with black ribbons tied to their mouths. At the same time, the MLA and the officials arrived to conduct the Amma Hastham programme. The villagers sat quietly in the audience without a word. The MLA told the police to get the struggle committee leader onto the dais. At this, the joint action committee leader went up to the MLA and submitted a petition urging the withdrawal of the government order on merging Jarajapupeta into Nellimerla. He urged the MLA to pressurise the government to give up the move. The MLA clarified that the State government had taken a decision to change 80 panchayats into Nagarapanchayats. He said that if the change happens funds for development activities would be increased. Also PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana had urged him to prepare development plans for Rs 2 crore for the village, he said. He told the villagers that it is not advisable to stop the merger that is going to bring about development. However, United Struggle Committee leaders Avanapu Satyanarayana, Boni Satyanarayana, J Prasad, Maddila Adinaryana and Talada Sannibabu said that it was not justified to gear up police machinery in the village to prevent their agitation. Stating that it is sad that the villagers have no freedom to express their opinions, they said that the proposed merger was a unilateral decision. The agitation would continue if the merger move is not withdrawn, they added.