Villages being paid dues, only two months bills pending: KTR

HYDERABAD: Stating that the State government has so far released around Rs 10,000 crore to villages IT Minister KT Rama Rao on Thursday said that not even a single rupee was pending to Gram Panchayats. He said that bills for the works done in villages over the last two months were pending and that too because the Centre has updated the software.

Rama Rao, along with Panchayat Raj Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao, conducted a telec-onference with the MLAs, MLCs and ZP chairpersons on the Palle Pragathi and Pattana Pragathi programme on Thursday. He said that the State government was promptly releasing Rs 256 crore every month for Gram Panchayats.

“The State government is committed to strengthening Gram Panchayats. It is the Union government that has not released funds for villages for the last two months,” Rama Rao said, alleging that some people were spreading canards against the TRS government. 

He pointed out that Rs 1,400 crore was due to the State from the Centre. “Representatives of local bodies should raise their voice against the Union government and demand the Centre release pending amounts to the State,” Rama Rao said. 

He urged BJP State president Bandi Sanjay to take up the issue of pending funds with the Union government. “As many as 1,39,152 cheques for an amount of Rs 696.71 crore have been given to local bodies till date. NREGA bills were pending only for the last two months. The State government released Rs 166 crore on Wednesday,” Rama Rao said. 

He said that since the Centre updated the software in January, the bills were not generated and uploaded. “As a result, the Centre wanted the State to upload the fund transfer orders (FTOs) again. Due to this, payment of NREGA amounts has been delayed. The State government is now uploading the FTOs relating to Rs 1,110 crore,” the Minister said. 

Weaver suicide a thing of the past now, says Minister

In undivided Andhra Pradesh, Sircilla town was known for powerloom weavers suicide due to unemployment and mounting debts. Now, the situation seems to have changed. Weavers are getting plenty of orders and they also work with the State government to supply Bathukamma sarees, school uniforms, Ramzan and Christmas gifts, Rama Rao said.