Kanti Velugu scheme caught in a limbo

Hyderabad: The second phase of the Telangana government's Kanti Velugu scheme to achieve 'avoidable blindness free' status, scheduled to begin on January 18 across the state, hangs in limbo as gram panchayats oppose the state government's orders to pay for free screening camps.

Sarpanches claimed that conducting eye screening camps, providing accommodation, food, and other facilities to physicians and supporting staff for a week would cost at least Rs 10,000 each day, and that the grants provided by the Centre would not even cover staff salaries.

Further, they contend that the expenditure should be borne by the medical and health department as was done in 2018.

The first phase of Kanti Velugu was held in 2018, and it received a huge response, with lakhs of people across the state taking advantage of the free service. Four years after the first phase, Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao announced the second phase of the scheme in November, instructing officials to conduct free eye screening tests, surgeries, and spectacles for the poor and needy.

Accordingly, the medical and health department issued orders earlier this month instructing gram panchayats to organise eye screening camps in their respective villages, provide necessary facilities, and bear costs associated with these activities. These orders came as a rude jolt to gram panchayats, which have been suffering from a severe financial crisis since April of this year.

Gram panchayats rely entirely on the central and state governments for funds. The Centre has recently decided to credit funds directly to gram panchayat bank accounts beginning in April of this year, and all gram panchayats were asked to open new accounts. Opening the accounts and connecting them to the Centre's portal took six months.

The Centre recently released part payments to a few gram panchayats. The state government, on the other hand, which releases Rs 227 crore to gram panchayats every month, has also stopped grants due to fund crunch. Recently, the state government made partial payments to gram panchayats. Sarpanches claim that the Centre's grants were insufficient to pay staff salaries, maintain sanitation works, pay EMI for tractors and water tankers, power bills for street lights, and so on, and that they cannot afford Kanti Velugu expenditure in these circumstances.