Hyderabad: Former sarpanches protest against Congress govt over long-pending bills

Mild tension at Martyrs Memorial as heated arguments break out between cops and protesters; some former sarpanches taken into custody

Hyderabad: Mild tension prevailed at Martyrs Memorial in front of the Secretariat when former sarpanches staged a protest demanding that the State government clear long-pending bills.

Raising slogans against the State government, they demanded that their issues be addressed at the earliest.

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When police tried to shift the sarpanches from the venue, heated arguments broke out. With the sarpanches unrelenting, the police took them into custody.

Under the aegis of the Sarpanches Joint Action Committee, many former sarpanches from across the State assembled at Martyrs Memorial.

Many have spent their personal funds on development works in their respective gram panchayats. While the State government was delaying clearance of bills, people, who had offered hand loans to sarpanches in the past, were demanding their money back with interest, said Sarpanches JAC president S Yadaiah Goud.

“Many sarpanches’ families are going through tough times. The State government, which should rescue them, is least bothered about the hardships being faced by our families,” Goud said.

Members of the JAC have been demanding that the State government conduct the panchayat elections only after clearing the pending bills. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy should intervene and address our genuine demands, they said.

On September 13, the Sarpanches JAC members staged a protest at the Panchayat Raj Commissioner’s Office here and obstructed the entry and exit of vehicles into the office.