KCR Warns Officials About Palle Pragathi

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao today said that the Palle Pragathi program aimed at making the villages clean and green should be implemented perfectly.

KCR held a review meeting on Palle Pragathi program on Sunday at Pragathi Bhavan. Ministers Errabelli Dayakar Rao, A Indrakaran Reddy, Satyavathi Rathod, the government's Chief Advisor Rajiv Sharma, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Panchayat Raj Principal Secretary Vikas Raj, Principal Secretary Forests Rajiv Tiwari, Panchayat Raj Commissioner Raghunandan Rao, PCCF Shobha, CMO secretary Smita Sabharwal, Special Secretary Bhoopal Reddy, OSD Priyanka Varghese and others were present.

Speaking in the meeting, the CM said that he would undertake surprise visits very soon to review how the Palle Pragathi works were being executed, and how the officials and people's representatives were doing their jobs.

He said that the officials and public representatives should actually do their duties and not confine themselves to taking photoshoots.

"People live either in the villages or in towns. If both these places are good everything will be good. Hence we need to focus on the quality of living in villages and towns. We have first started the Palle Pragathi program, and with inspiration drawn from it, a Pattana Pragathi program will be launched shortly. We have filled all the vacancies in the Panchayat Raj department. We have appointed village secretaries in all the villages. We have hiked the salaries of the Panchayat Raj employees. Every month we are releasing Rs 339 crore without fail. We have made one tractor available in every village. When the government is giving so much support and encouragement, our villages and towns should be good. Clean the roads every day and keep the villages clean and tidy. Clean the drainages. Sanitation works should be done in the villages daily without fail. It is not enough to do these works for some days and forget about them later. Every day the assigned works should be done in every village. We have also created plant nurseries in all the villages - it should be made compulsory to plant and grow trees at every place and in all the villages," KCR said.

"Certain ministers, collectors and public representatives are giving poses for photoshoots in the media claiming that they are themselves cleaning the villages as part of the Palle Pragathi program, for publicity's sake. This is not correct. They are not there to clean the villages with broomsticks. They are there to ensure that the work assigned is done properly. What progress are the villages making? Are all the concerned discharging their duties properly? To find out these things I will make surprise visits to the villages," the CM added.

The Chief Minister also instructed the officials to take measures to ensure that Hyderabad and other cities did not turn pollution-ridden, and take action to protect the environment. He said that plants should grow both inside and outside the city and on the forestlands turning the area into a thick forest.

"Hyderabad is growing rapidly and the population is increasing manifold. Our city has no seashore, making pollution easier. If we neglect things now Hyderabad too will become like other cities which are suffering from acute pollution. To counter this environment protection measures should be taken, he said.