What Happened To Promises Made To Victims Of Pipeline Blast?  

Nagaram, East Godavari District: Today, my Padayatra proceeded through Rajolu and P. Gannavaram constituencies. These places are full of hard-working labourers related to coconut farming, who are struggling to eke out a livelihood. The demand for some kind of special care for their welfare is a just and sensible one.

Many people from these parts have migrated to the Gulf countries in search of a better life, with nothing to fall back on here. Cheated by middlemen here, these poor migrants to Gulf countries have been stranded there with no one to turn to. Their families here are going through untold suffering and are in dire straits. I felt that there should be an official agency to address the problem of Gulf migrants who are stranded there.

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Employees of the mid-day meal programme met me near Kadali. Although they have been cooking mid-day meals for school children for many years, they are being paid a nominal amount. Even that meagre amount is not being paid to them for months, and even bills are not being settled, they complained. In spite of all their difficulties, they managed to survive, facing the challenges which came their way. They were deeply troubled by the disturbing news that the government was handing over this service to a private agency. What will be their fate if they are suddenly rendered jobless after having worked for 15 years? When will these rulers who focus only on kickbacks ever learn to empathise with the suffering of the poor and needy?

In Nagaram today, I met victims of GAIL pipeline blast which took place a few days after Chandrababu Naidu assumed office in 2014. Some of them had lost their kith and kin, while others suffered serious burn injuries and were going through hell. The most tragic part of the matter is that while a lot of commotion was created right after the blast, and a slew of promises made, none have been fulfilled. The government promised to get plastic surgery done to the surviving victims, and said it would provide jobs. It owned responsibility for taking care of their families, including the education of their children. What happened to these 18 commitments?

One can understand the unjust style of functioning of this TDP government by looking at one fact—the victims of this blast who suffered burn injuries are not being given their monthly rations because their fingerprints are not being recorded! The TDP government has no answer to their simple question—“Are we not eligible for pension with our bodies totally deformed on account of the blast?“ When the victims approached the government for justice, they were directed to GAIL company, and the latter in turn, sent them back to the government.

Each said it had nothing to do with the blast and sent the victims to the other agency! Who is accountable? Who is responsible? Is it not the moral responsibility of the government to stand by these poor villagers, who became victims of the pipeline blast and suffered serious burn injuries for no fault of theirs? The worst part of this tragedy is that, while a lot of interest was shown in the initial days of the blast, no preventive measures have been taken so far against the recurrence of a similar incident. Except for giving compensation at the time of such a tragedy the government has not initiated any clear preventive steps. Gas leakage is an ongoing thing and people in these parts live under the cloud of constant fear.

I have a question for the chief minister—it has been four years since the Nagaram blast took place and yet the commitments given to the victims have not been fulfilled. Is this not injustice? You are supposed to mete justice to them and yet these victims with burn injuries are being denied rations because their fingerprints cannot be biometrically recorded! Isn’t this callous treatment inhuman?