The Hindu Business Line : Intellectuals plan to set poll agenda

EVEN as political parties in Andhra Pradesh are gearing up for the ensuing elections to the Assembly, a group of intellectuals have teamed up to prepare a wish-list, comprising issues that, they believe, would really benefit the people and pooh-pooh the claims being made by the Government with regard to development.

They have also mooted an idea to take a slot in satellite television channels to propagate their views. To start with, they have prepared a draft list of proposals, which will be circulated among a wider section of intellectuals to elicit their views before finalising the final draft. It will then be submitted to various political parties for possible inclusion of its contents in their respective manifestoes.

"We would like to present our case against the anti-people policies of this Government. It has been acting against the interests of the people. We are going to explain to the people the ill-effects of the World Bank directives, which are being implemented by the Government," Mr V. Hanumantha Rao, a well-known economic columnist, told Business Line.

Asked what can be the alternative, he said: "At present, maybe it is Congress. But, for long, the country has been witnessing several attempts to forge a third alternative. These efforts might lay a foundation for a sound third alternative."At a roundtable meeting held here recently, a group of intellectuals, including Dr P.V.R. Bhaskara Rao, a leading cardio-thoracic specialist who leads People for Economical and Effective Medicare movement, Prof. K R Chowdhary and Mr Hanumantha Rao discussed ways and means to further the cause.

Participating in the meeting, Mr Rao said that it was not an easy task to sensitise some intellectuals "who are in the spell of the Chief Minister. They think that development means construction of some flyovers in the State capital. Our aim is to make them aware of the truth."

Prof. K.R. Chowdhary, who taught at Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, said the statistical figures being circulated by the Government did not represent the whole truth. "Productivity of all crops has declined in the last 10 years. If they (the figures) are true, why is that the State has performed so poor in the human development indicators," he asked.

"We have plans to take a slot in a satellite channel to present our case. Also, we would like to release pamphlets on several topics to educate the people," Prof. Chowdhary said.

"We do know that intellectuals cannot take this up on their own. But they can create an atmosphere to facilitate dissemination of information," he added.

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Intellectuals plan to set poll agenda

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