TRS sarpanches angry over delayed payments from government

KHAMMAM: Sarpanches of small gram panchayats are facing trouble in their families over their mortgaging of gold ornaments and even their houses in banks to pay the bills of contractors for works done in respective gram panchayats.

They are on a long wait but not getting the payments reimbursed from the government. They are exerting pressure on ruling TRS legislators to speed up the government’s payments to them.

The sarpanches are presenting their plight to MLCs and MLAs during their visits to the villages.

The financial condition of Ammugudem gram panchayat in Nelakondapalli is the worst. G Sathish, its sarpanch and president of Nelakondapalli mandal sarpanches association ,showed his ire at the mandal general body meeting in the presence of TRS MLC T Madhusudhan.

Sathish, a graduate in MBA, joined politics while working as HR manager with the Hyundai company in Hyderabad. “We will not take up any new work till the pending payments are done. We as sarpanches are paying the amounts to the contractors by selling or pawning even the ‘thali’ (mangalsutra) of our wives. We are in a sad plight even inside our homes now.”

“our legislators should understand the severity of the problem and force the government to make the payments that are due to us,” he said.

There were disputes among the sarapanch families over the mortgaging of properties in banks to pay the bills produced by the contractors after completion of various works. Speaking to the Deccan Chronicle, Sathish said, “Wives of sarpanches blame their husbands for not releasing their pawned jewellery. These women are unable to explain the reason to the relatives for not wearing ornaments at family functions.”

He said that he himself faced problems at home over getting a loan from the bank for paying bills to the contractors for village works.

“Such grim experiences are being faced by two to three sarpanch families in every mandal in Khammam district. The spouse sarpanches are bringing such complaints during the meetings of sarpanches. We decided to stop all the works until the previous payments are done,” he said.