This Undemocratic Regime Must Go, If People Have To Smile Again  

Pedaboddepalli, Visakhapatnam District: Till mid-day, my Padayatra proceeded in pouring rain today. Unmindful of getting completely drenched, people walked shoulder to shoulder along with me, displaying unbounded love and affection. They narrated their problems to me and told me about the day-to-day difficulties they were experiencing under the current TDP rule over the past four years.

Satyavati of Sitayyapalem told me how the Chandrababu Naidu government made life difficult by imposing different kinds of taxes. She lives in a one-room house with a verandah. Earlier, Satyavati used to pay Rs.150 as property tax for this. The government upgraded Narsipatnam from a panchayat to a municipality and as a result, she is now being taxed Rs. 1600! Earlier, she used to get electricity bills of Rs.75 a month and now gets a bill of Rs.400. Satyavati clarified that apart from a bulb, fan and television set there was no gadget or equipment which consumed power in her house. Moreover, she was forced to spend Rs.1000 a month for the treatment of her son who is suffering from a blood-related disease.

Also Read:TDP Needed Someone To Blame For Their Failures: YS Jagan

How can one survive if the government makes life of common citizens difficult by imposing taxes in this manner? She posed this question, even as she wept. Narsipatnam is full of people with similar complaints. They said life was simpler and much better when they were under a panchayat. Turning it into a municipality, the government hiked the taxes ten-fold! People complain that they are being made to pay more in taxes than residents of Visakhapatnam or Kakinada corporations.

Citizens here are being asked to pay Rs.11,500 for a water connection and not even white-card holders are spared. This is blatant injustice, to say the least. What development work has this government taken up, they questioned. The place is full of overflowing drains and gutters. There is no sewerage system in place. Drinking water supply is a trickle. The little amount of water one gets, is highly contaminated.

Mosquitoes and houseflies abound causing widespread malaria and dengue. When this is the situation here, is it fair to levy such taxes, they questioned. There is no rationale to such unjust hiking of taxes by the Chandrababu regime. On top of everything, how can the government impose penalties on those who cannot pay such heavy taxes? How can it threaten to seize their properties? How can it lock the houses of those who cannot afford to pay these back-breaking taxes? Is there any democratic governance in place? These are some of the questions which came to my mind when I heard about the people here.

I felt deeply saddened when people told me that they could at least get employment guarantee allowance when Narsipatnam was a panchayat. Now that it has become a municipality, they have lost access to even this allowance, they lamented.

The story of Rajulamma, a poor widow from Bennavaram, was heart-rending. She earned her livelihood working as a daily wage labourer and has no one to support her or take care of her. Life took a tragic turn when she got afflicted with the deadly disease of cancer. Doctors told her that it was not possible to treat her completely under Arogyasri and that they would provide chemotherapy partially. She does not have a rupee. To make matters worse, she has not been paid her employment allowance even after she had worked for three years. It was being denied to her on the pretext that her thumb impression was not being recorded. The amount due to her was Rs. 20,000, she said.

I had no words to console her as she expressed her sorrows to me. If such insensitive rulers are at the helm of affairs, people are bound to suffer in this manner. Things must change and people must smile again.

People came in large numbers to the public meeting in Narsipatnam in the evening braving heavy rain.

I have a question for the chief minister—your manifesto stated that the burden of taxes would be lowered and that the tax system would be made people-friendly. In reality, there appears to be an unregulated system in place without a proper procedure or structure. As a result, people are being made to pay very high taxes. Is this fair? Is making people pay heavy penalties what you mean by a citizen friendly system of collecting taxes? Your election manifesto says that a tap connection would be provided for Rs.100 to white card holders, but in truth thousands of rupees are being collected in taxes. Is this not deception?