Change ‘khaya, piya, chaldiya’ image: Telangana CM to ‘baldia’ officials

HYDERABAD: Calling upon the elected representatives and officials of municipalities to repair their bad reputation, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday said it was their responsibility to build a positive image of the urban local bodies.
“The municipality’s name has become synonymous with drainage, dirt and garbage. Baldia (municipality) has become a second name for corruption. It is often referred to as baldia, khaya, piya, chaldiya (municipality staff came, ate, drank and left),” he said, adding that to fix the bad reputation, a transparent and non-corrupt system must be in place.
Addressing the newly-elected mayors, chairpersons, counsellors, ward members and corporators, the chief minister said that all of them have a responsibility towards transforming municipalities into model towns. Advising the elected representatives to refrain from making false promises of getting all works completed overnight, he emphasised the need for proper planning and the need for awareness on the subject. “Prepare a comprehensive action plan before jumping into execution. Have less photo-ops and focus more on executing the work,” the CM said.
KCR said that Pattana Pragathi programme would be held across the state for 10 days from February 24 to March 4. The programme is expected to begin from dalit bastis where a majority of the poor live. “Town development action plans should be made ward-wise and the subsequent works should also be taken up ward-wise,” he said.
The chief minister set a deadline of three months for completion of public toilets in all towns and cities and directed officials to resolve all power-related issues within eight months. He warned MLAs, mayors, chairpersons and commissioners that they would have to quit their posts if the works were not completed and funds are not spent as per the plan.
Expressing unhappiness over the panchayat raj system, he said that mandal panchayat development officers were negligent and did not tour villages to review the Palle Pragathi programme. He also instructed the collectors to camp in the villages and conduct padayatras to achieve the Palle Pragathi targets.
Box Item: The government is considering giving another opportunity to those who have built unauthorised structures on government land in municipalities to regularise their buildings, as it did in the towns and cities under GOs 58 and 59.