Non-release of funds is hurting Gram Panchayats, Municipalities: BRS leader Harish Rao

Former minister T. Harish Rao criticizes Congress Government in Telangana for neglecting rural and urban local bodies, leading to sanitation issues.

Senior leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and former minister T. Harish Rao has alleged that governance in rural and urban local bodies is limping due to non-release of funds as also non-payment of salaries to the sanitation workers for the last seven months.

Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad on Tuesday along with several other party leaders, he said the previous BRS Government released ₹275 crore to gram panchayats and ₹142 crore to municipalities every month to meet their basic needs. They used to meet diesel charges for garbage lifting vehicles/tractors and other emergency needs with those funds.

However, the Congress Government had not released the funds for the last seven months, leaving sanitation to winds in the rainy season when the chances of spread of communicable diseases would be high, Mr. Rao alleged and added that the government did not pay the salaries of the sanitation staff for the last seven months.

The Panchayat Secretaries were being forced to spend money from their pocket/salary to meet the daily needs such as diesel for garbage lifting vehicles, he said. They were also paying the road tax and insurance amount of tractors and so far they had spared amount from ₹30,000 to ₹75,000 a gram panchayat, due to pressure from the higher ups to maintain sanitation. He gave examples of several Panchayat Secretaries who spent from their pocket for GP needs.

Stating that the BRS Government released ₹3,300 crore a year to gram panchayats and ₹1,700 crore to municipalities, the BRS leader said the number of tractors with gram panchayats had gone up from 87 to 12,769 during the BRS rule and exemplary sanitation had brought Deendayal and Sansad Adarsh awards to the local bodies.

While the BRS Government had spent ₹20,000 crore for Palle Pragathi and Pattana Pragati programmes, the Congress Government denied salaries/honorarium to the MPTC and ZPTC members, Mr. Harish Rao pointed out and demanded that the government release pending salaries to sanitation workers, MPTC and ZPTC members and funds to local bodies. He also criticised the government for not paying social security pensions for two months even at the old rate of ₹2,000 a month, if not ₹4,000 promised by the ruling party.

On the death of a farmer of Poddutur village of Chintakani mandal in Khammam district, B. Prabhakar, on ‘grabbing’ of his land by others, Mr. Harish Rao demanded an inquiry into his forcible death and justice to his family.