THE first conference of Telangana Girijana Sangham was held at Achampet in Mahabubnagar district. Addressing a public meeting organised in connection with the inauguration of the two-day conference on April 17, CPI(M) MP from Tripura Jatin Choudary called upon the different sects of people belonging to the  Scheduled Tribes in the country to fight unitedly for their rights. Though the Modi government at the centre has celebrated the 125th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar, the framer of the Indian constitution, it has ignored his ideals and objectives, Jatin Choudary has said. Without ensuring equality – economic, social and political – to the dalits, tribals, weaker sections and other poor people in the country, how can you achieve the ideals of Ambedkar, he questioned the rulers. He found fault with the centre and the TRS and TDP governments in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for not implementing the legislations intended for the betterment of the Scheduled Tribes. Referring to the statistics of the socio-economic survey conducted in the country in 2011-12, he pointed out that out of 130 crore population of the country, 56 percent are landless, 75 percent have no permanent employment and 43 percent lack pucca houses and that a substantial part of them are SCs and STs. 

Recalling that Ambedkar had articulated the measures to be taken for development of SCs and STs and incorporated them in the constitution, suggesting allocation of funds for their welfare and development proportionate to their percentage in the population, Jatin Choudary criticised the governments of the ruling classes for allocating meagre funds for the welfare and development of the SCs and STs. In the central budget, for education of SCs and STs, Rs 897 crore only is allocated, out of which just eight percent is being spent for the students, while the remaining amount is meant for buildings and other infrastructure and salaries of the staff, he explained.  Jatin Choudary has made it clear that a conspiracy to keep the dalit and tribal students away from education has been inherent in this approach of the government and that Rohith Vemula of the University of Hyderabad had committed suicide as a result of the same. Contrary to the record of the NDA government at the centre and other state governments of the ruling classes, the Left Front government in Tripura has been taking a number of measures to strengthen the tribals economically and provide them quality education and medicare and standing in the forefront in the country, he explained.

State vice president of the Sangham, Desya Naik, presided over the meeting.  Former MP of the CPI(M), Dr Midiam Babu Rao said, contrary to the expectations of the STs that their lives would improve after the formation of the state of Telangana, the TRS government in the state has been failing to implement the legislations intended for their betterment. The TRS government has not just ignored the need for giving pattas within three months for every tribal who has applied for allotment of land, it has, on the other hand also been alienating the STs from their lands in the name of green belt and forest zones, he criticised.  State president and general secretary of the Sangham, M Sobhan Naik and M Dharma Naik and other leaders participated in the meeting.

Addressing the conference of delegates of the Sangham the next day, Jatin Choudary lashed out at the ruling classes for hatching conspiracies, unable to tolerate movements of the people on various issues. The agitations of Patels in Gujarat and of Kapus in Andhra Pradesh for reservations are intended to obstruct reservations sanctioned by the constitution to the dalits, tribals and bahujans, he said. He conveyed revolutionary greetings to the conference on behalf of the people of Tripura.