Ahead of KCR’s tour of districts, appeal for help flood his Facebook page

HYDERABAD: Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is set to be besieged with complaints when he goes on a tour of districts which he promised to undertake after the Lok Sabha elections. The CM had not only promised to visit each district (Telangana has 33 districts) but also camp there for 3-4 days to listen to problems of people in what could be seen as his fresh move to reach out to people.

While the CM is yet to announce his tour schedule, those facing day-to-day issues, especially land ownership, are already trying to catch his attention on social media. A farmer Sharath of Mancherial district triggered this ‘prajavani’ of sorts when he went live on Facebook on Mar 27 on how a revenue official had deprived his family of land by registering it on someone else’s name. The CM responded immediately by personally calling up Sharath and saw to it that his issue was resolved. Soon, several others followed suit by trying to garner the CM’s attention by putting out posts on social media.

Officials said as and when KCR decides to visit the districts, it won’t be just land issues but several other problems that he would be flooded with. Complaints about lack of transport and proper roads and underdevelopment in villages are set to take precedence. It may be recalled KCR had promised during his Lok Sabha election rallies how he intend to spend a few days in districts to resolve people’s issues in what could be reminiscent of ‘Prajala Vaddaku Palana’ undertaken by KCR’s counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu when he was CM of unified Andhra Pradesh in 1995.

Sharath himself posted a video on his Facebook on April 14 of a family appealing for help from the CM. Three women appear in the video and one of them explains that their father had died of a heart attack but officials have refused to extend Rs 5 lakh assistance that he is eligible for under the Rythu Bima scheme. “Please share the video until it reaches KCR,” a sobbing woman says, explaining she has four other siblings — three sisters and a brother. A telephone number was provided in the video but when TOI tried to reach them, they did not respond. The family hails from Marripadu mandal of Mahabubabad district and owns 10 guntas of land.

With complaints about revenue officials’ role in land-related cases pouring in, Sharath even launched a separate WhatsApp group. Inspired by Sharath, Y Kondaiah also made a video of the family being deprived of the benefit they were entitled to for a piece of land acquired by government in Dacharam village in Bejjanki mandal of Karimnagar for Thotapalli reservoir. Kondaiah said the land belonged to his father Y Venkaiah and they should be given the compensation. Kondaiah alleged that one of his brothers was “being favoured” by officials, while the others were ignored. “We have brought the matter to the notice of former irrigation minister T Harish Rao who has advised the revenue authorities to do justice to our family,” he said in the video.

Complaints are pouring in on the official Facebook page of KCR as well. Narasimha Gundepu of Seetharam Nagar panchayat in Amangal mandal of Rangareddy district said they bought four acres of assigned land in 1995 but have not succeeded in getting it regularised.

Vamshi Adluri of Warangal said 100 square yards of land that they owned was being encroached upon by a person who retired from the government recently. Vamshi had approached police and local MLA, but in vain.

In another instance, villagers of Basvapur tried to get the CM’s attention. Sathish Mudhigonda of the village said 52 farmers were yet to get compensation for 44 acres of land that had been acquired for Basvapur reservoir as part of Kaleshwaram project.