Stop intimidation tactics against sarpanches over pending bills, says Nalgona MP Uttam

HYDERABAD: Condemning Panchayat Raj Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao for disputing the claims of sarpanches with regard to non-payment of gram panchayat bills and asking sarpanches to furnish proof for their claims, Nalgonda MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Thursday demanded the State government to release the village-wise breakup of the Rs 9,560 crore which it has claimed to have released since 2019. 

Speaking on the sidelines of Rythu Rac-habanda programme he held in various villages in his parliamentary constituency on Thursday, Uttam dared the State government to appoint a committee with a sitting High Court judge to inquire into the claims of sarpanches and the Panchayat Raj Department and resolve the issue in a specific time frame and make the facts public.

Criticising the State government for blaming the Centre for not releasing Rs 1,140 crore pertaining to the material component of NREGS, the Congress MP questioned whether it was the duty of the sarpanches to follow up with the Centre to secure funds.

“Even if the Minister’s statement is true, the State government has on average released about Rs 3,200 crore per year since 2019 for the development of rural areas. This amount doesn’t even constitute 2 per cent of the annual budget of over Rs 2 lakh crore,” he observed.

Stating that the Minister intimidating sarpanches was unacceptable, Uttam said that protests were being staged in thousands of villages across the State regarding the pending bills, which would severely affect the implementation of the fifth phase of Palle Pragathi this year. It may be recalled that a large number of sarpanches had staged protests over pending bills.