Praja Natya Mandali drive against price rise

The cultural wing of the Communist Party of India, AP Praja Natya Mandali, will undertake a drive, from State to village-level, to increase public awareness about the cascading effect of rising prices and the Centre's inability to check them.

After the mandali's State Council meeting, Puli Sambasiva Rao, president, told a press conference that apart from the campaign to educate people about the government's failure to contain prices, it would also mention Telangana. He said ‘injustice' done to the region for decades would be explained, along with what could be done redress it.Chada Venkat Reddy, CPI State Council member in-charge of Cultural Front, said the party would organise a ‘Jail bharo' programme on April 8 against the price rise. The programme would highlight ‘failure' of the PDS to streamline its supply chain management to help the poor. Mr. Rao said the mandali would exert pressure on government to declare April 16, the birthday of Kandukuri Veeresalingam Panthulu as ‘Telugu Natakaranga Dinotsavam'. It would reiterate the demand for the State to declare its cultural policy, while meeting Chief Minister K .Rosaiah and Information Minister J. Geeta Reddy.

Palle Narasimha, general secretary of the mandali, said it would redouble efforts to get performing artistes into the fold, especially from Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts.