Sarpanches Committing Suicides: Bandi Sanjay

Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar today claimed that village sarpanches were committing suicides due to non-payment of bills by the government.

Referring to the statement of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao terming the decision of the union government to release funds directly to the villages as a cheap act, Sanjay termed it as a highly unfortunate statement.

He said that the main objective of the 73rd amendment of the Indian constitution was to release funds directly to the villages, and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi government was releasing funds directly to the villages in order to uphold the spirit of the Constitution.

He said that the constitution was making it clear that 29 subjects, including health and education, should be transferred to the villages, and also that the selection of the beneficiaries of ration cards and other welfare schemes should be made by holding grama sabhas, and asked the Chief Minister whether his government keeping all the subjects of the villages in its control wasn't then a violation of the constitution.

He alleged that the Chief Minister had usurped the powers of the villages and handed them over to the local MLAs, and that the CM was also diverting the funds released by the union government for the development of the villages, thereby diluting the development of the villages. He sought an explanation from the CM on the issue.

He claimed that several sarpanches were being forced to sell their properties to develop their villages, and were turning into daily wage labourers, watchmen, security guards and MGNREGS workers to eke out their livelihoods, thanks to the CM's centralisation.

He claimed that in a stark example of the contempt with which he held village self-rule, the CM had confined himself to his farmhouse when all other States had celebrated National Panchayat Raj Day in a grand manner.

He said that even Prime Minister Modi had taken part in a grama sabha held in a village of Jammu & Kashmir, and that the village sarpanch had presided over that grama sabha. The PM highlighted the importance of the grama sabhas by taking part in the meeting, Sanjay claimed.

He asked KCR to stop criticising the Narendra Modi government on every issue, and added that the people of the State would teach a befitting lesson to the CM if he did not stop his constant criticism of the union government.