WARANGAL: Both the state and central governments are working in a planned manner to stifle the local bodies, a Congress MLA has alleged.
Former minister and Congress’ Manthani MLA D Sridhar Babu said here on Monday that a critical situation prevailed in the state vis-à-vis local bodies. “Without allocating funds to the municipal, zilla, mandal parishads as also to village panchayats, the state and central governments are suffocating the local bodies,” he alleged.
“The Telangana government is trying to suppress the voice of the opposition by not allowing them to question the failures of the government. Even though the BRS government is continuing with such curbs, the orders issued by the high court have helped the opposition parties to hold dharnas at Indira Park,” he said.
He said that when the sarpanches’ forum took their issues to the notice of the state government, it responded in a stubborn manner.
“By giving a time limit, the government is forcing the village sarpanches to hurriedly complete the construction of burial grounds, dumping yards and Prakurthi Vanams without allocating them sufficient funds. They are threatened with suspension if they fail to complete the work on time. The sarpanches who completed the works are being harassed by not clearing the bills,” the MLA alleged.
He said that for the past four months, a total sum of Rs. 1,200 crore, which should have been sanctioned by the state finance commission, had not been released to the village panchayats. This apart, the state government diverted Rs. 35,000 crore allocated by the 15th finance commission to the village panchayats, for other sectors, he alleged.
Sarpanch is the first port of call for development of the village, the state and the country. But the state government is making life miserable for sarpanches. It is wrong for the state government to arrest sarpanches when they head to Hyderabad to participate in the maha-dharna, he said.
The MLA said the Congress party is extending its full support for the dharna by the village sarpanches and would fight for their rights until the state government released the funds to the village panchayats.
