Sarpanches firm on Palle Pragathi demands

SANGAREDDY/JAGTIAL: With barely two days for the start of the Palle Pragathi programme, a majority of the sarpanches across the district remained adamant over pending bills, leaving the administration on the edge. 

Sarpanches have been boycotting Palle Pragathi preparatory meetings organised by the authorities in all mandals across Sangareddy and Jagtial districts, and have been rebuffing attempts by officials to persuade them to attend so that an action plan could be drawn to implement the programme. The situation is similar in Gajwel, represented by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao himself. 

On Wednesday too, sarpa-nches boycotted a preparatory meeting in Jagdevpur mandal and later protested in front of the MPDO office with black scarves around the neck. With the sarpanches firm on their demand, officials are worried about how they would implement the programme from June 3 onwards. 

An overwhelming majority of the sarpanches protesting, including those  who preside over the Sarpanch Forums are from the ruling party.They allege that the government does not accord them minimum courtesy; instead it threatens to suspend them. They say that they are ready for suspension since they are unable to carry out any work in the villages due to pending bills.