Maharashtra villages seek merger with Telangana

The villagers, including those from Maharajguda, Nake Wada, which is on the Maharashtra-Telangana border, said they wanted to be part of the country’s youngest State.

Hyderabad: In yet another testimony to the success of the Telangana model of governance and development, villagers of 14 villages on the border of Maharashtra and Telangana have demanded that their villages be merged with Telangana.

The villagers, including those from Maharajguda, Nake Wada, which is on the Maharashtra-Telangana border, said they wanted to be part of the country’s youngest State, citing the benefits the people were getting from the State government, ranging from pensions, to rations and other welfare schemes.

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According to a report put out by national news agency ANI, the villagers were also expressing their willingness to join Telangana as the issue of border areas fuels up in Maharashtra.

“People want to merge with Telangana as they are getting many benefits from Telangana govt as compared to Maharashtra govt. Telangana govt gives pension of Rs 1,000 to senior citizens here, 10 kg of ration and many other benefits,” (sic), ANI quoted Vijay, a local from Nake Wada village.

The agency also quoted Sudhakar Jadhav, Deputy Sarpanch of Nake Wada village, saying that people were getting more benefits from the Telangana government.

“I appeal to Maharashtra to give benefits of more schemes to people here,” he said.

Sudhakar Jadhav, Deputy Sarpanch of Nake Wada village says, “People are getting benefits from the Telangana govt. I appeal to Mahrashtra to give benefits of more schemes to people here.” pic.twitter.com/ooQOY2ekxh

— ANI (@ANI) December 14, 2022

 

Maharashtra | Villagers of 14 villages including Maharajguda, Nake Wada that are situated on the border of Maharashtra-Telangana border express their willingness to join Telangana as the issue of border areas fuels up in Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/JYquZUgSdO

— ANI (@ANI) December 14, 2022

 

This is not the first that villages on different borders of Telangana have asked to become part of the State pointing out that the different welfare schemes being implemented here. In July, residents from the five villages of Gundala, Pichukalapadu, Kannaigudem, Yetapaka and Purushothapatnam in Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Sitarama Raju district, close to Telangana’s Bhadrachalam, staged a protest demanding their merger with Telangana.

This was after 46 villages from Maharashtra on the Nizamabad and Adilabad district border sought a merger with Telangana. In October this year, another forceful argument for merger with Telangana was made, of all people, by a BJP MLA! This was Shivraj Patil from Raichur City constituency in the BJP-ruled Karnataka, who demanded the merger of Raichur with Telangana citing various reasons. He said despite repeated pleas, the Karnataka government was not addressing farmers’ issues and went on to appeal to his party leaders at the programme to discuss the plight of farmers from the region with the government, or merge Raichur with Telangana.

In 2019, leaders from Nanded, Nalgaon, Bhokar, Degloor, Kinwat and Hathagaon from Maharashtra met Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and appealed to him to consider merger of their villages with Telangana. In 2018, about 40 villages from Dharmabad in Nanded district even passed a resolution seeking merger with Telangana. The villagers had appreciated the Rythu Bandhu scheme here apart from the support extended to the farming community and hoped they would also get the same benefits if they were made part of the State.