CRDA course a farce: Youth

The CRDA had assured of providing employment to the educated unemployed youth of 29 villages in the Capital Region during collection of lands under LPS. The pooled farmers are claiming that CRDA had promised providing jobs in government sector, but now has gone back from that promise. These farmers along with their children plan to continue protests till CRDA restarts the training and provide employment in the government sector.

The landowners, hopeful of settling their children in various jobs, had offered lands to the CRDA. Further skill development programme was started for 240 educated unemployed youth in various trades in the Acharya Nagarjuna University, but later the skill development centre was shifted to Vizianagaram. The parents are alleging that Telugu Desam leaders, CRDA and the government cheated them by stopping skill development and CRDA is playing with the lives of their children.

The CRDA had selected 110 educated unemployed youth for skill development training and they were sent to ANU for training in the month of June. After completing two months of training, CRDA shifted these aspirants to a private engineering college at Yadcharla of Vizianagaram district, 300 km far from Capital Region, in the month of August.

Training aspirants, K. Madhu and others termed skill development programme as a farce. They lamented that they went to Yadcharla to hone their skills to get good jobs at least in the private sector but their dreams shattered as there was no faculty to give skill development training. They lamented that for the first month some guest faculties had taken classes but for the past two months, they remained idle without classes. They alleged that they didn’t get the '3,000 each monthly stipend also. They added that their parents had given lands to CRDA hoping jobs for their children but in vain.

A parent, N. Venkateswara Rao of Yerrabalem said that CRDA officials phoned him several times asking to send his son for skill development training hence he sent his son but sadly CRDA are playing with the lives of the youth. He claimed that they sent their children to training centre not for food, but for employment. The affected farmers along with children are planning to meet ministers and to file cases seeking justice.

The youth of Tullur, Yerrabalem, Venkatapalem, Mandadam, Uddandarayunipalem, Malkapuram, Rayapudi and adjacent areas squatted at the CRDA office, seeking justice. They alleged that the CRDA collected the lands by promising jobs in the government sector, but now has gone back on its word. They claimed that they were doing private jobs but as the CRDA promised government jobs in lieu of pooling lands, they left their jobs to join skill development training. They alleged that now they are deprived of training, government jobs and private jobs.

The protestors submitted a memorandum to CRDA director and announced continuation of protests. Meanwhile, CRDA officials conducted talks with protesting youth and claimed that CRDA did not promise government jobs, but offered to provide jobs in private sector after the completion of training.