Friday will be an unforgettable day for Vasalamarri village sarpanch P. Anjaneyulu.
Heading the remote village in Turkapalli mandal of Yadadri-Bhongir district as sarpanch, this elected representative from the grassroots would have never imagined that he would receive a phone call from none less than Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao. And, the latter promising that he would personally visit Mr. Anjaneyulu’s house and bless the family would surely be beyond his wildest dreams.
The Chief Minister was slated to pay surprise visit to villages and towns to inspect the progress of works taken up under Palle and Pattana Pragati programmes from Sunday starting with Siddipet. He sprang a surprise calling up the sarpanch and informing him that he would visit the village on June 22. Incidentally, Vasalamarri is one such village which Mr. Rao desired adopting to ensure its all-round development.
“I could not come to the village as I was affected with Coronavirus so were a number of people across the country. I am coming there on June 22 for launching the project,” the Chief Minister told Mr. Anjaneyulu. When Mr. Rao enquired about the population of the village, the sarpanch said it would be around 2,600.
Mr. Rao said the villagers should not trouble themselves on the food arrangements as they would be made by the government. “Will arrangements for hosting lunch to 3,000 suffice, because I will have an entire team accompanying me?” the Chief Minister asked, adding that number of those attending would be no issue as arrangements could be made as required.
Mr. Rao asked Mr. Anjaneyulu to select two locations in the village – one for hosting community lunch to the entire village and the other for the conduct of a meeting with residents. “Make sure that there are two separate locations. People can have their lunch and leisurely come to the meeting. I will also have my lunch with the residents,” Mr. Rao said.
He said a team of officials headed by the District Collector would visit the village to see the location and take up other works like erecting rain-proof tents for both locations. Obviously elated over the information, Mr. Anjaneyulu suggested that there was a location spread over 30 acres on the fringes of the village where the Chief Minister made a brief halt in the past that would be ideal for the event.
He, however, insisted that the Chief Minister visit his house and bless his family. The Chief Minister responded positively, saying he would come to Mr. Anjaneyulu’s house in the intervening time between lunch and his meeting with the residents of the village. Mr. Rao made it clear that the sarpanch should take together all the people irrespective of their political affiliations as “the meeting is for development of each and every household of the village”.