Southern Jatha
The Southern Jatha of Sangharsh Sandesh was welcomed into Andhra Pradesh by CPI (M)'s central committee member M.A.Gaffoor, member of the state committee and secretary of Anantapur district O. Konda Reddy and other leaders of the party.
Today morning, the Jatha proceeded from Guntakal, where it had a late night meeting on the 3rd March. The first stop for the jatha was in Maddikera village where a reception was organised by various mass and class organisations of the party. The jatha leaders were handed over memoranda by the gram sewaks, washerman's association and Anganwadi workers. They expressed their firm belief that it will be the CPI (M) alone that can work genuinely for the solution of their problems.
From Maddikera the jatha proceeded to Adoni, which is locally called as the second Mumbai. On its way, the Jatha was received by the people of Kosur, Pathikonda and Aspari. Pathikonda was once a stronghold for the communist movement and the party had a member of legislative assembly too from this area. The people of this area still cherish the good work done by the party. As a reflection of this affection, the party office is built on the land that was donated by the potters.
The entire region is drought prone and drinking water is a huge problem. At times, the villagers complained that there would be no drinking water supplied for days together. Though the lower canal of river Tungabhadra, a tributary of Krishna passes through this region, water remains a scarcity.
Adoni is famous for its spinning mills, which are closed now. Just as Mumbai, the second Mumbai too is bereft of the famous mills. The difference is, while Mumbai prospered as a financial capital of the country, the second Mumbai (Adoni) is now famous for starvation deaths, migration and all round deprivation.
From Adoni, the Jatha proceeded to Emmignoor, another famous centre for weaving. The Emmignoor Weavers' Society is of national repute and the products of its members are valued. But now due to the policies of the government, the Society is closed as most of its members are ruined. Unemployment is a major issue here, with the weavers who could not continue in their profession and lost their jobs, are unable to find even alternate employment.
The Jatha proceeded to Kurnool, the district headquarters and home to many chief ministers and ministers in both the state and union cabinets. Kurnool is famous for its paper mill, owned by a minister in the current Congress government. It is a town with vibrant trade union movement.
The entire region also has substantial population of the minorities who are facing lots of hardships as many of them are dependent on small occupations. The continuous drought and the resultant agrarian crisis has impacted their lives adversely.
The people of the region submitted memoranda about their problems like the lack of ration cards, house sites, water for irrigation and drinking. They wanted the CPI (M) to take up their issues in right earnest and organise struggles. They pledged all their support for such struggles.
The meetings were addressed by Jatha leader and Polit Bureau member of the CPI (M) S. Ramachandran Pillai, M.A.Baby and Central Committee members, V. Srinivasa Rao, Sudha Sundararaman and M.A.Gaffoor.
