Vijayawada: The ruling TD-led alliance government in Andhra Pradesh has renamed six schemes in the school education sector after distinguished personalities like Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Dokka Seethamma and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The Jagananna Vidya Kanuka welfare scheme, named after former chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, would now be known as Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Vidyarthi Mitra. The Jagananna Goru Mudda scheme is renamed as Dokka Seethamma Madhyana Badi Bhojanam, and the Jagananna Animutyalu scheme would now be known as A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Pratibha Puraskaram.In a unique humanitarian step, Dokka Seethamma who hailed from Mandapeta had served food to poor people and travellers for over 40 years. She thus earned the sobriquet, Apara Annapurna, a reincarnation of the goddess Annapurna. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, India’s second president, is renowned for his signal contributions to the teaching field as a scholar and academician. APJ Abdul Kalam was the 11th President and was renowned for his invaluable contributions to India’s civilian Space programme and military missile development efforts.Notably, the Telugu Desam during its previous stints in government used to name schemes after the party’s stalwarts, NTR and Chandrababu Naidu.The practice was in vogue even during the Congress government, as the late former chief minister Rajasekhar Reddy implemented various welfare schemes like Indiramma Illu and Rajiv AarogyaSri by naming them after former PMs.Jagan Mohan Reddy while as CM took the naming spree to the next level by introducing and naming the ‘Jagananna Navaratnalu’, a mix of nine flagship welfare programmes, exclusively after him.In a comment, the taxpayers’ association Vijayawada secretary M.V. Anjaneyulu told Deccan Chronicle, “The government should focus on effective implementation of the schemes rather than playing with their names. The money spent on the welfare schemes belongs to the public.”Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan appreciated the naming of the education schemes after eminent personalities.
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