Women’s safety is my priority, says YSR Congress Koneru Rajendra Prasad

Vijayawada: YSR Congress candidate from Vijayawada parliamentary constituency, Koneru Rajendra Prasad, who was born, brought up and educated here, is passionate about improving infrastructure facilities in the city.

Expressing concern over the lack of development even after 40 years, Mr Prasad said he was committed to develop infrastructure in the city by constructing flyovers and diverting the two national highways passing through the city. In an exclusive interview to this newspaper he shared his views on the development of the city and his priorities.
Following are the excerpts:

Q: As a local person and one who studied here what are your priorities?

I have developed a Vision Vijayawada document with the help of experts in several fields. The flyovers at Kanaka Durga temple ghat road and at Benz circle should be completed on a war footing as they will provide great relief to commuters and ease traffic congestion in the city.

Q: You are new to politics and are contesting in elections for the first time. Do you have a specific agenda in mind?

Sure! Vijayawada city should be made a woman-friendly city by improving security for women. My priority is to see women move freely without fear. Police must be tough with eve-teasers and in women harassment cases. Empowerment of women is one of my priorities.

Q: Any plans to develop the drainage system in the city which is the one of the main concerns of the people?

The drainage system will be rectified and canals be made pollution free. The canals will be beautified and water transport will be introduced.

Koneru harps on city’s growth

Vijayawada is 30 years behind in terms of development and urban progress is the need of the hour. Its not just employment and industrial growth, the city needs to have basic amenities like safe drinking water, drainage system and better road network for achieving development, said Koneru Rajendra Prasad, YSRC candidate for Vijayawada Parliamentary Constituency here on Saturday.

Generally, when three canals pass through the city it is considered to be an asset but for Vijayawada, it appears, to have turned out to be a liability. Many drainage outlets are connected to these canals which cater to the drinking water and irrigation requirements in rural areas of the city, and this needs to be addressed, he said while addressing the Meet the Press programme organised by A.P. Union of Working Journalists here.

With two highways passing through the city, many vehicles, especially trucks and buses shuttle across the city.

Everyday 60,000 vehicles pass along Benz Circle and this not only increases pollution but poses a risk to students. There is a need to construct flyovers, including one at Kanakadurga temple and an elevated expressway, which helps in avoiding movement of trucks and buses on the city roads, he said.

Pending projects

“Many urban projects like Outer Ring road, Gunadala flyover have been pending since many years. ORR is designed as a four-lane project but I feel it needs to be upgraded into an eight-lane freeway. I promise to complete these projects,” assured Mr. Prasad.

“There is a need to construct flyovers, including one at Kanakadurga temple and an elevated expressway, which helps in avoiding movement of trucks and buses on the city roads”

Koneru Prasad Election Campaign Images - April 30, 2014

Koneru Prasad Election Campaign Images - April 30, 2014

Koneru Rajendra Prasad Campaign at Bhimavaram on April 24, 2014 – Images

Koneru Rajendra Prasad Campaign at Bhimavaram on April 24, 2014 – Images

Developing Vijayawada

Vijayawada is a commercial city of Andhra Pradesh and is also referred to by its historic name Bezawada. Located on the bank of river Krishna, the city is well connected to other regions by road, rail and air. It is sociologically dominant, politically active and agriculturally rich. It is also recognized as a Global City of the Future and is an industrial transportation hub. There is strong focus on the existing infrastructure of the city, what with the division of Andhra Pradesh looking imminent. Shri Koneru Prasad is one of the few people who carry a strong vision for Vijayawada.

The main hurdle until now in the development of Vijayawada is inadequate funds and several project lie ignored and pending for a long time. Thanks to the active support and initiative of Shri Koneru Prasad , many of these projects are breathing life again and  can finally move from those files to reality.

Let us take a look at some of the main aspects that Shri Koneru Prasad has been working on in Vijayawada.

Employment for youth 
Due to the indecisiveness of the State Government, many youth in Vijayawada have lost their jobs. Shri Koneru Prasad has introduced career programs that aid to offer jobs to the unemployed youth. Private organizations are being encouraged to offer attractive salaries the deserving youth in industries, services and hospitality sectors.

Education for all 
The education in Vijayawada enjoys a pre-eminent position in the life of the indigenous population of the city. Shri Koneru Prasad thinks that there is a need to focus on the overall development of the students and provide modern infrastructural amenities. He encourages the students to develop a deeper insight into the field for further enrichment of knowledge. Distance education too is on the cards.

Economic growth through industrialization 
Vijayawada is also the center of Andhra politics and a hub of commercial activities and Shri Koneru Prasad is well aware of that. He has played an important role in developing the industrial sector and software units to contribute to exports. Industry development that has been sluggish over the years has finally perked up under his leadership.

Women Empowerment
Shri Koneru Prasad strongly believes in empowering the women for the uplift of the society. Self Help Groups and other organization are working towards the uplift of the women in the region under his able guidance. Important women issues like education, health, leadership, safety, challenges for the women are being looked into. Shri Koneru Prasad is focusing on the women's economic, social and political achievements.

Easy access to quality health care
Every native of Vijayawada is entitled to quality health care and a lot needs to be done in this direction, as per Shri Koneru Prasad. Primary healthcare and day care specialties are further improved and the existing portfolio has been extended into high end specialty services with a better infrastructure.

Providing Water to Vijayawada 
Vijayawada and other surrounding town and villages need to have water-tap connections and 24 hour access to water. Thanks to the efforts of Shri Koneru Prasad and his team, serious issues like chlorine level, leakages, overflows and flows are being looked into.

Providing Power without any Failures
The region still faces power shortage and failures due to electric employee’s strikes. Shri Koneru Prasad plays an important role of coordination and has helped in looking after the needs of the maintenance staff and other Electricity and water issues that often arise here.

Infrastructure development
There is a positive change seen in and around Vijayawada. Shri Koneru Prasad has made sure that Vijayawada enjoys the necessary infrastructure it needs. Sure, there were serious hurdles on the way. However, his dedication and perseverance has paid off  and many projects, hospitals and schools that were pending for more than decade  have now been completed.

Support farmers and farmers will consolidate Indian economy

We all are aware of the fact that India is an agriculture oriented country. Agriculture plays significant role in the development of our country. A vast part of our land is dedicated to agriculture. And farmers also consider their land as a mother. But the problem is that condition of farmers of our country is pathetic. Most of the farmers rely on rain for crop cultivation and if rain betrays them, farmers have to face serious losses.

Our country is developing at a rapid pace, but people are least worried about farmers. It is possible to help farmers and consolidate our economy. With the modern irrigation facilities we can solve 90 % problems of Indian farmers. Some states of our country like Punjab and Haryana are flourishing due to availability of irrigation facilities. While some states still need to be equipped with new irrigation facilities.  The irrigation facilities available in India are far from being sufficient. So for half of our total area beneath food crops have been brought under irrigation and the other half is left to the mercy of the rains which are unpredictable.

Shri Koneru Prasad understands the dilemma of farmers and has made some efforts to help them. His aim is to improve the status of farmers in our country. Farmers, who grow food for us, should take advantage of new technology. With his efforts, Shri Koneru Prasad wishes to ease the life of Indian farmers. The arduous effort, our farmers put in the fields is very tedious and if rain eludes them their entire endeavor goes to waste.

Shri Koneru Prasad has worked hard to provide irrigation facilities to farmers of Andhra Pradesh. His vision is to equip fields and farms of Andhra Pradesh with the latest irrigation tools so that farmers of Andhra Pradesh also flourish like Punjab. His outstanding work in agricultural development of Andhra Pradesh can be listed as:

• Shri Koneru Prasad approved Lift Irrigation scheme to 500 acres of land at GARA mandala. This facility eases farmers in doing better agriculture. Lift irrigation saves plenty of time for farmers. With the introduction of lift power engineering in farms, farmers of GARA mandala have achieved better crops.
• Shri Koneru Prasad also equipped 2500 acres of land at Korni, Korlam, Tonangi,Vamaravalli, and Kalingapatnam villages with latest lift irrigation facilities. Now farmers of these areas do not have to depend on rainfall for better yield. Many farmers are thankful to Shri Koneru Prasad for equipping irrigation facilities in their villages. This makes farmer’s life better, simpler and safer.
• Another remarkable effort made by Shri Koneru Prasad regarding development of agriculture in our country is opening headwalls in the GARA Mandalam Village. The life of farmers living in the GARA Mandalam village has become much easier through the great efforts made by Shri Koneru Prasad in the field of agriculture.

These are just a few significant works done by Shri Koneru Prasad in the field of agriculture in Andhra Pradesh. Shri Koneru Prasad is a kind hearted person who seeks pleasure in helping others in problem. Apart from agricultural development, Shri Koneru Prasad also works to bring better education and medical facilities in small villages of Andhra Pradesh. 

Shri Koneru Prasad provide the farmers with modern techniques of irrigation and minimize their work load

Agriculture is the main source of income for several families of India. As three fourth of its population is engaged in the field of Agriculture, they are completely dependent on farming to sustain their life. Agriculture is an important asset to calculate the economy of a country as agriculture provide with food stuff and many other resources which are crucial to sustain a fruitful life. For proper output from agriculture as it is necessary to use appropriate irrigation methods. There is a boundless necessity of irrigation in agriculture in India because India is a land of diversity and has a varying climate as well as weather conditions.

These circumstances range from extremes of heat to the life-threatening cold weather and from extreme aridity to unwarranted rainfall. Due to these reasons irrigation is needed in India.

Andhra Pradesh contributes to a great extend in Indian agriculture, the framers of this state work hard day and night to provide with best quality of food stuff to their nation. They often face problems like drought or excess rainfall, which damage their crops to a large extend. Shri Koneru Prasad is among the kind hearted man who cannot see his farmer folks perturbing. So he decided to help the farmers of his state .And for this Nobel because Shri Koneru Prasad proposed Lift Irrigation scheme to 500 acres of land at GARA mandala. By proposing the concept of lift irrigation Shri Koneru Prasad minimized a lot of burden from the shoulders of farmers of Andhra Pradesh. The concept of lift irrigation proved out to be very effective as lift irrigation is a technique of irrigation in which water is not elated by natural flow but is boosted by pumps or any other artificial means.

After the success of Lift Irrigation scheme in 500 acres of land at GARA mandala, Shri Koneru Prasad also introduced the concept of Lift irrigation in an area of about 2500 acres at villages like Korni, Korlam, Tonangi, Vamaravalli, Kalingapatnam and many other dwellings. The people of Korni, Korlam, Tonangi, Vamaravalli, and Kalingapatnam also cherished Shri Koneru Prasad’s work and are very thankful to him for his contribution in their welfare.

Along with the introduction of lift irrigation in various regions of Andhra Pradesh, Shri Koneru Prasad also opened headwalls in the GARA Mandalam Village. This proves out to be very effective in preventing the crops from the storm and its various ill effects. Now the Farmers of Andhra Pradesh can stay in a peace of mind during the bad weather condition as the headwalls, that is the is a small absorbent wall placed at the passage of a storm water will control the flow of storm water through their fields and this prevent their crops from getting damaged. The contribution of Shri Koneru Prasad in the field of Agriculture cannot be ignored, as he has worked hard at providing the farmers of Andhra Pradesh with the best latest techniques of irrigation. And hence he delivered the farmers of our nation with a magic wand, which these farmers are going to use in the wale fare of their nation.