Vijayawada: More than two decades after
his father Rajiv Gandhi had lamented about meagre flow of
funds to beneficiaries of welfare programmes, Congress general
secretary Rahul Gandhi today regretted that the same scenario
prevailed even now.
"What my father said long ago is still true. Only 15
paise out of every rupee is reaching the targeted people.
Hence, the continuing divide between the rich and the poor in
the country," he said during an interaction with students at
the Loyola College here organised by NSUI.
When a student him why the rich became richer and the
poor became poorer, he replied this was a glaring anomaly that
needs to be rectified. "Your late chief minister Y S
Rajasekhara Reddy took some steps to correct this trend but
still a lot more needs to be done," the Amethi MP noted.
Asked whether he had a vision for the middle-class
people, Rahul again referred to the schemes launched by YSR
for the betterment of this section of the society.
"Rajasekhara Reddy was an exceptional leader who
initiated many schemes to improve the lot of middle-class
people. Tell me, what was the average life span of Indians in
1947 and what is it now? Isn't it better now? It was only
because of something has been done over the years," he
remarked.
Rahul said there was nothing called "brain drain" in
his perspective. "There is nothing wrong if Indians go abroad
to learn something. If we create better opportunities here,
they will come back," he noted.
When a student referred to the recent spate of attacks
on Indian students in Australia, Rahul observed: "We are not
weak-minded people. Can't we face them?"
When a student pointed out that merit was losing out
because of the system of reservations, Rahul conducted a
voting among the 1500-odd participants on whether or not they
were in favour of reservations.
An overwhelming number of
students raised their hands against reservations while only a
handful gave their thumbs up. When two girl students argued
for and against the system of reservations, Rahul remarked:
"These (perceptions on reservations) are symptoms of a big
disease. We need to cure the disease first."
On the issue of global warming, Rahul said awareness
needs to be created against the use of plastics and polythene
that became a threat to ecology.
When a student asked him why despite technological
advances it took over 24 hours to trace the missing helicopter
of YSR, he said it was due to certain constraints, including
inclement weather, in the search and rescue operation.
Rahul told the students that the purpose of his
interaction, with them was to make them feel responsible
towards the country. "I want to fill politics with young side
and help improve politics. So far, politics has remained for
the relatives of politicians. I want to change that," he said.
Rahul, who arrived in Vijayawada an hour behind
schedule, spent over 90 minutes with the students.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah, who was
supposed to receive Rahul in Vijayawada, had to cancel his
trip because of heavy rain. Though Rosaiah reached Tirupati to
receive Rahul there, the latter cancelled his trip and flew to
New Delhi directly from Vijayawada.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 22:15