TRS Diverting Central Funds, Starving Panchayats: BJP

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti government was acting contrary to the spirit of the Constitution by slashing the powers of sarpanches, Telangana BJP president and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar said on Tuesday.

In an open letter to village sarpanches, Sanjay said that the BJP was committed to the spirit of the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution, and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had allotted huge funds for the cause of local self-governance, so that villages achieved self-reliance as envisioned by Mahatma Gandhi.

Sanjay also pointed out that the TRS election manifesto in 2014 had promised strengthening of the Panchayati Raj institutions.

However, such promises had not been met even eight years after the formation of a separate Telangana state, he claimed.

Instead, the TRS government had taken the path of weakening the institutions, and the Sarpanches were taking loans for the development of their villages, he added.

Sanjay said that the State government had pending bills of Rs. 2-20 lakh per gram panchayat. And while it was being said in the GOs that funds had been sanctioned, the State government was freezing the public accounts of the Sarpanches, and was even threatening to suspend them.

Sanjay promised the Sarpanches that if they chose to fight for their rights, the BJP would support them.

He also said that the Centre was providing funds for developmental projects, including Rs 11 lakh for Palle Pragati and construction of Vaikuntha Dhamams, Rs 10 lakh for Rythu Vedikas, Rs 4 lakh for Palle Prakruthi Vanams, Rs 2.5 lakh for the construction of dump yards, and Rs 1.5 lakh for the setting up of nurseries in each village panchayat.

Besides, funds for CC roads, maintenance works, setting up of LED lights on streets, employment generation and other developmental works were also being provided by the Centre, in partnership with the State government, Sanjay said.

"However, while the Centre is releasing 100% of its share, the TRS government has not yet set up the 15th Commission Committee to authorize that spending, and is even misappropriating the given funds. This shows their commitment to the village panchayats," Sanjay said.

He also claimed that the non-clearing of bills and the CM's attitude towards them had resulted in many Sarpanches being forced to take up daily labour to clear their debts, and even in the deaths of some Sarpanches and ward members due to mounting indebtedness.

On the contrary, village panchayats in the State that had been ranked among the best in the country fell under the parliamentary constituencies of BJP MPs, he claimed.

Sanjay wrote to the Sarpanches that they had to fight for their pending bills and their rights, as they had not been elected from any particular party. He also sought support from them for the silent protest to be taken up by the Telangana BJP unit soon against the TRS government for the rights of Sarpanches and local body representatives.