Scribes stage dharna seeking house sites

Hyderabad: Seeking allotment of housing sites, several journalists staged a dharna, under the aegis of Telangana Working Journalists Federation (TWJF), at Indira Park here on Thursday.

The protest received support from political parties like the Congress, CPI (M), YSRTP, TJS and the BSP. A protest in the election year will be fruitful, said Tammineni Veerabhadram of CPM, and added that the government would be forced to give them to at least some journalists.

The government had earlier taken the pretext of a Supreme Court stay on allotment of housing sites. But the intentions of the government became evident after the objections were removed, he said. “We had raised the issue with the state government on behalf of the journalists,” Veerabhadram said.

TPCC vice-president Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy said, "On behalf of the Congress party I extend my support to you. Journalists played a key role in the formation of Telangana state by highlighting all issues."

Former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had allocated 70 acres of land and had taken up various welfare measures for journalists, said Y.S. Sharmila, YSRTP leader.

Extending his support, TJS president Prof. Kodandaram said, “The BRS government, which is giving advertisements worth '500 to 600 crore per year to different media houses, seems to be thinking that it can ignore journalists. The increase in land prices has made it impossible for them to own houses. We should remember that the Telangana movement was sustained by the massive support extended by journalists.”

The dharna was led by TWJF president Pilli Ramachander.  A unanimous resolution seeking allocation of housing sites for all journalists was introduced by B. Basava Punnayya.

The other office bearers who participated included Pulipaka Anandam, Gudiga Raghu, Gandra Naveen, Saleema, Rajasekhar, Chandrasekhar, K. Vivek, B. Vijay Kumar, R. Venkateshwarlu, P. Krishna, P. Bhikshapathi and Niranjan. HUJ president and general secretaries B. Jagadeeshwr, B. Arun Kumar and leaders Renayya and Madhava Reddy, among others were present.