BRS MLA Harish Rao slams Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy over gram panchayat fund freeze

Accuses Revanth of crippling Telangana’s rural local bodies by withholding funds, claims gram panchayats are unable to function, sanitation has collapsed, workers are unpaid, triggering protests and administrative breakdowns

Hyderabad: Former Minister and BRS senior MLA T Harish Rao launched a blistering attack on Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, accusing him of debilitating rural local bodies in Telangana by depriving them of basic funds. He demanded the immediate release of funds to restore rural governance.

“Is this the change you promised, Revanth Reddy?” he asked, questioning how gram panchayats could serve the people without receiving funds for nearly 18 months.

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In a statement, Harish Rao said the previous K Chandrashekhar Rao-led government had made Telangana a national model by increasing the number of panchayats to 12,941 and equipping each with a tractor, tanker, and trolley. Under the Congress regime, however, the entire system had collapsed, he claimed. Due to a lack of funds to purchase diesel for tractors, officials were forced to halt garbage collection, he added.

“Garbage is not being collected, sanitation has collapsed, and even defunct streetlights are not being replaced due to the Congress government’s inefficiency in releasing funds,” he said. He also pointed out that panchayat workers, who were promised salaries on the first of every month, had not been paid for the last two months, forcing them to protest and go on mass leave.

The former Minister noted that the previous BRS government used to release Rs 275 crore every month to gram panchayats, totaling Rs 3,300 crore annually, along with Rs 1,700 crore for urban sanitation. In contrast, the current Congress government had not released any funds and had failed to conduct even basic sanitation drives like Palle Pragathi and Pattana Pragathi.

“Revanth Reddy is spending three days in Delhi just to allocate portfolios to his new Cabinet colleagues, while villages are being completely neglected,” he said.