Govt starving GPs of funds: Harish

Hyderabad: Alleging that the Panchayat Raj system was paralysed in the State with the government not releasing funds to the gram panchayats, senior BRS leader T Harish Rao on Tuesday demanded the release of funds that had been pending for the last seven months.

Addressing a press conference here at Telangana Bhavan, Rao pointed out that because of the neglect by the government, the panchayat secretaries were made to pay from their pockets, and they were debt-ridden. He recalled that former CM KCR had brought ‘Palle Pragathi’ and ‘Pattana Pragathi’ programmes, taking up sanitation drives two times in a year. ‘The government in the past took up works like avenue plantation, hyacinth removal, ‘Vaikunta dhamams’ and others, but the Congress government did not release a single paisa to GPs. KCR gave funds for GPs every month, like salaries’, he noted.

“Telangana villages used to be a model for the country under KCR rule; without Telangana, there were no awards at the Centre during the BRS rule,” said Rao. He said that though the term of GPs had ended, the government was not holding elections.

Rao said the retiring MPTCs and ZPTCs also said they were not getting salaries for seven months. “You are diluting the Panchayat Raj Act, your associate Chandrababu Naidu is giving a Rs 4,000 pension along with one month of pending arrears. Emulate this and provide two months of pending dues to the elderly,” he said.

Stating that the suicide by a farmer, Prabhakar, was unfortunate, Rao wanted the government to hold an inquiry against officials who were irresponsible. He alleged that the Congress was to blame for Prabhakar's death. He demanded action against those responsible and also provided Rs 25 lakh ex-gratia.

Regarding the letter written by AP Chief Minister to Telangana CM Revanth Reddy, Rao demanded the seven mandals and the Lower Sileru power project should be on the main agenda of the meeting. He said there is no place even for parking for devotees coming to the Bhadrachalam temple; the CM should put pressure on his AP counterpart on this.