Hyderabad: Cash-strapped lawmakers scout for funds to help poor

Hyderabad: Following a huge 75 per cent pay cut announced by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao for all people's representatives during the lockdown period, ministers and legislators including MLCs are experiencing crunch of funds. They are running pillar to post to mobilise funds to address people's plight during the crisis time.

While some ministers like Finance minister T Harish Rao and Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy are easily getting help from local businessmen and industrialists, others, mainly MLAs and MLCs, are frantically calling for funds from party cadre, philanthropists and local communities.

Although the state government is providing free rice and Rs 1,500 to each poor family holding white ration cards, ministers and legislators are being flooded with pleas for help and relief from middle class families as well, who have lost livelihoods in private educational institutions, retail cloth showrooms, mobile shops and other small and medium business establishments in the districts.

The working classes who lost their livelihoods and got a low pay in April are also making a beeline at the offices of people's representatives offices and pleading for immediate assistance in form of cash, supply of emergency medicines and essential commodities to meet their basic needs.

On an average, each MLA is said to be receiving distress calls from at least 200 families for immediate assistance every day. Some of them seek money for personal needs and others want daily essentials like sanitisers, soaps, edible oils etc., a leader who is overseeing the relief operations on behalf of Energy Minister said. The legislators had to spend at least Rs 50,000 per day to address local people's problems in the last three weeks. Now, following huge cut in their pay, they are looking out for potential donors.

Harish Rao and the Congress MLA from tribal dominated Mulugu assembly constituency, Sitakka, have been active and distributing essentials to the deserved at their doorsteps. At their request, several social organisations are coming forward and lending a helping hand to these leaders in serving the poor in difficult times.

Following an appeal by TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, several local social organisations like Vysya Sangham and local cement companies are distributing essential goods in poor colonies in Reddy's Parliamentary constituency of Nalgonda. TRS and Congress MLAs have created local groups led by party leaders and have been mobilising funds from affluent sections since April second week.

Some MLAs and MLCs who completely rely on their monthly salaries are facing big challenges to help the poor with shoestring budgets. Some TRS legislators already took to the notice of Chief Minister the financial problems they are facing after the pay cut.