Slum-free India our mission

TIRUPATI: Union minister of culture, housing and urban poverty alleviation Kumari Selja said the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is committed to making the country slum-free. She visited Gandhipuram slum here on Sunday and interacted with the locals, who complained to her about their grievances.After inspecting the poor sanitation, unsafe drinking water and poorly maintained drainage lines, the Union minister expressed shock and was unhappy with the civic officials.Saying that Sonia Gandhi had issued instructions for implementation of slum-eradication effectively in all the towns and cities across the nation, she said it was the primary duty of the state governments to provide safe drinking water and healthy environs to the downtrodden.Local Congress MP Chinta Mohan, who accompanied the Union minister, explained to her about the various ongoing civic works in Tirupati and sought `500 crore aid from the Centre for taking up developmental works in all the 50 divisions in Tirupati Municipal Corporation.Lashing out at the civic authorities for their negligent attitude towards problems like improving sanitation, supplying drinking water etc, the MP said officials were just turning a deaf ear to people’s grievances.Tirupati RDO A Prasad, additional municipal commissioner Eswaraiah and others accompanied the Union minister.