Deteriorating living conditions in urban, rural areas in Indiramma Rajyam, says KTR

In a statement, the BRS working president highlighted that villages and towns which thrived under BRS’s decade-long rule are now facing severe challenges. He criticized the Congress government for not sustaining development progress, resulting in a governance breakdown, especially in rural areas where panchayats are struggling due to inadequate funding.

Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Monday attributed the deteriorating living conditions in both villages and towns in the State to the Congress government’s incompetence and failure.

The local body administration had collapsed even as the State was grappling with severe challenges in managing essential services and infrastructure under the ‘Indiramma Rajyam’ promised by the Congress, he said.

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In a statement, the BRS working president pointed out that villages and towns, which had thrived during the 10-year rule of the BRS, were now facing unprecedented challenges.

The Congress government had failed to maintain the momentum of development, leading to a complete collapse in governance, particularly in rural areas where panchayats were struggling due to a lack of funds.

The situation had turned dire, with sanitation and drainage systems taking a hit due to lack of funds and leading to a surge in diseases like dengue and malaria, he said, lashing out at the government for not providing necessary funds to gram panchayats, which had left former sarpanches in debt, unable to pay bills for completed works over the last eight months.

Rama Rao reminded that during the BRS rule, Rs.275 crore was released every month to gram panchayats, a practice that stopped since the Congress came to power, leading to a severe financial crunch. He also questioned the delay in disbursing Rs.500 crore received from the 15th Finance Commission to gram panchayats and the diversion of Rs.2,100 crore from Central funds meant for MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) and NRHM (National Rural Health Mission).

“Instead of releasing funds, the State government is harassing former sarpanches who were illegally detained for merely asking for clearance of pending bills,” he said. He also sought explanation about the accumulated electricity dues amounting to Rs.4,305 crore in 12,769 panchayats. He criticised the Congress leaders for their neglect of villages, which were considered the backbone of the nation.

The situation in Telangana’s towns and cities was a “great crisis’, he said, pointing at a complete financial paralysis of urban local bodies due to lack of funds, with not even the most urgent repairs being carried out. Twelve corporations and 129 municipalities, along with the GHMC, were struggling to pay wages to sanitation workers, with development projects halted due to insufficient funds, Rama Rao said, slamming the government for neglecting urban infrastructure, leaving roads battered and drainage systems overflowing, especially during the rainy season.

Rama Rao demanded answers on when the pending bills of over Rs 1,200 crore in municipalities would be released and asked whether the Congress government had any plans to address the ongoing crisis. He warned that municipal contractors were preparing for protests if their dues were not cleared by August 15, further worsening the situation. He urged the government to take immediate action and take up urgent repairs of damaged infrastructure including roads due to rains.