Congress MLA Rajgopal Reddy exposes hardships faced by panchayats

In sharp contrast to the Congress government’s claims of extending all support to gram panchayats, Munugode MLA Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy said several bills were pending since the last 15 months and that the situation in the panchayats was very challenging

Hyderabad: In sharp contrast to the Congress government’s claims of extending all support to gram panchayats, Munugode MLA Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy said several bills were pending since the last 15 months and that the situation in the panchayats was very challenging.

“Due to delay in clearing the bills, panchayat secretaries are pledging gold and even the mangalsutra of their wives. I am aware of their hardships,” he said at the Atmeeya Sammelanam of Telangana Panchayat Secretaries Federation here on Saturday. Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister D Anasuya (Seethakka), Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud and others attended the programme.

“Since the last 15 months, bills are not being cleared. The panchayat secretaries are spending Rs.2 to Rs.4 lakh from their personal money in the panchayats to execute different works,” the Congress MLA told Seethakka.

There was lot of pressure on the panchayat secretaries from both higher officials and villagers. All your (employees) issues would be taken up with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and cabinet and resolved at the earliest, he assured the employees.

He also found fault with the implementation of Daily Sanitation Report (DSR) app. This app mandates employees to commence work at 5 a.m. and register their attendance online. “Who introduced this app and does this work?” he asked the employees.