Kolla Venkat (31) of West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh has been cycling since April 8 demanding that the Union Government include AP as a Special Category-Status (SCS) State.
On Thursday, Venkat, an engineer, reached Dharmasala in Jajpur district. He has started his journey from his village to reach New Delhi on May 8 covering a distance of 2,400 km.
“My aim is to create awareness among people about the problems of Andhra Pradesh after it was divided into two States for formation of Telangana.
"Meeting different sections of people in different places has helped me gain a lot of experience and various issues faced by them," he added.
Venkat pointed out that a total of 11 States have been granted Special Category Status based on the Gadgil-Mukherjee formula which has been revised over the years. The criteria include hilly and difficult terrain, strategic locations along the border, economic and infrastructural backwardness and a sizable share of tribal population.
The 11 States are Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
Apart from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are also demanding Special Category Status.
“I am also supporting the cause of Odisha,” said Venkat.
It is high time the NDA Government fulfilled the promises made to Seemandhra (new Andhra Pradesh), including Special Category status, completing the multipurpose Polavaram irrigation project, provision of funds for building the State's capital city, among others, he said.
“After reaching New Delhi, I will sit on a hunger strike at Jantarmantar for an indefinite period to force the Union Government to accord my State Special Category Status,” said Venkat.