No sarpanches, municipal councillors, chairpersons in Telangana for one year now

The delay in holding elections and ensuring sarpanches for panchayats is affecting flow of funds from the Centre under different schemes

Hyderabad: There have been no sarpanches, no ZPTCs and MPTCs or Municipal chairpersons in the State for over a year now. And this is reflecting in the day to day operations of rural and urban local bodies here.

The delay in holding elections and ensuring sarpanches for panchayats is affecting flow of funds from the Centre under different schemes. This is also impacting execution of different welfare and development programmes in both rural and urban areas. As there were no Sarpanches in the State since the last one year, the State government could not get about Rs.600 crore to Rs.700 crore for panchayats under different Central government schemes, pointed out Telangana Sarpanches Sangham JAC president S Yadaiah Goud.

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It was up to Panchayat Secretaries to take up different works. With limited funds and resources, they were already finding it challenging to ensure sanitation in the panchayats, he said.

The Panchayat Secretaries have been appealing to the State government to allocate manpower based on the panchayat’s population. They were demanding the implementation of municipal department staffing patterns in panchayats for effective service and execution of works. This apart, women panchayat secretaries were facing a lot of difficulties in reaching home as review meetings were being organized beyond regular work hours. A few even met with accidents, a member of Telangana Panchayat Secretaries Association said.

The Association member also said many panchayats did not have internet connections, Tabs and SIM Cards for uploading information online. All these demands were being made before the government but there was hardly any response, the member said.

In a democracy, elected public representatives play crucial roles, especially in rural areas. In the last 13 months, there were no sarpanches, MPTCs and ZPTCs. The term of councilors and municipal chairman in the municipalities too has ended. How can the State government deliver service to people, particularly in the current summer season, asked Yadaiah Goud.

“Interestingly, social scientists and activists are not raising voice over these issues,” he added.