High drama in Khammam as villagers lock up officials over Praja Palana schemes launch

Incident took place in Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka’s Madhira Assembly constituency where officials decided to launch schemes in Suvarnapuram village instead of Khanapuram

Khammam: The residents of Khanapuram village in Mudigonda mandal in the district locked up officials as they were upset about replacing their village with another one for the launch of four Praja Palana schemes.

This incident took place in Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka’s Madhira Assembly constituency.

---

As per the directions of the Telangana government, the district officials selected 20 villages on a pilot basis in 20 mandals in the district for launching Rythu Bharosa, Indiramma houses, Indiramma Athmeeya Bharosa and issuing of ration cards on saturation basis on Sunday.

In Mudigonda mandal, Khanapuram was selected and the information was sent to officials concerned at around 5.30 pm. Teams — led by the local tahsildar, MPDO, mandal agriculture officer, APO and NREGA officials — started a survey at 7 pm, which it went on for over two hours, in the village to select eligible beneficiaries.

However, after some time, the officials received a phone call informing them that Khanapuram had been replaced by Suvarnapuram in the mandal for implementing the schemes and that they were told to carry out a survey in that village instead.

The beneficiaries in Khanapuram, who were elated as they were going to benefit from the schemes, got angry and locked up the officials in the local gram panchayat office.

The villagers staged a protest outside the office demanding that they implement the schemes as per the earlier plan, and prevented officials from moving out.

Tension prevailed in the village following the incident. The officials concerned informed their higher-ups about the situation.

After much deliberation at the higher level, the officials of the survey teams were told to go ahead with the earlier plan and make arrangements to launch the schemes in Khanapuram.

The villagers then let the officials go, ending hours of high drama.