Let us fight corruption & illiteracy: Lok Satta

Eradication of corruption and illiteracy and building a nation that offers equal growth opportunities to all are the tasks before us, said Lok Satta Party Working President D. V. V. S. Varma.

Addressing a gathering after unfurling the national flag at the party headquarters to mark Republic Day, Mr. Varma said that corruption which was sporadic and petty in the early years of our republic has now grown into a leviathan, obstructing development. Constitution of powerful and independent agencies like Lokpal and Lokayuktas is necessary but not enough. Corruption can be ended only when the political system responsible for its survival and growth is overhauled.

Mr. Varma said that our failure to ensure quality education to all has come in the way of India leaping forward economically. An OECD study says that Indian higher secondary students rank higher than those from Kyrgyzstan only.. The standards of Indian students in Class VIII are equal to those of their counterpart Koreans in Class II. Although Governments have been spending billions of rupees every year, educational standards are abysmally low.

Party leaders Katari Srinivasa Rao, K. Gita Murthy, M. Satyanarayana and P. Sivaji Raju took part in the meeting.

Later, Mr. Varma flagged off a tableau for the party’s anti-liquor rally from Durgabai Deshmukh Hospital to Indira Park. The Republic Day tableau depicts Andhra Pradesh’s tremendous progress -- not in its economy but in liquor consumption.