Telangana: Municipal councillors extract bribes from jobseekers in Mancherial

These incidents came to light when a mediator attempted to kill himself by consuming nail polish when he was held responsible by the workers for the delay in regularization

Mancherial: Certain councillors belonging to the Congress in Mancherial, Bellampalli and Naspur municipalities are drawing flak for extracting huge amounts from the unemployed under the guise of providing jobs.

A councilor in Mancherial civic body was accused of collecting Rs 4 lakh from dependents of eight elderly workers promising to regularize their jobs.

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His act was exposed when a mediator attempted to kill himself by consuming nail polish when he was held responsible by the workers for the delay in regularization. However, the workers said that they were duped by the councilor.

Two other councilors of the Mancherial municipality reportedly cheated many jobless persons on the pretext of providing employment.

The victims are running from pillar to post seeking justice. A mediator said that one of the councilors paid back the money he took from a woman considering her weak financial condition, but other victims neither received their money nor a job.

Similarly, a Councilor in Bellampalli Municipality received criticism for collecting somewhere between Rs 80,000 and Rs 2 lakh from 18 persons assuring to give jobs in nurseries on contract basis.

A list of jobseekers and the amount they paid went viral on social media platforms. Some of the jobseekers submitted petitions to Collector Kumar Deepak seeking action against the councilor.

Meanwhile, a group of councilors in Naspur municipality collected around Rs 1 lakh from 19 persons who were employed as sanitation workers on a contract-basis.

However, the workers were removed barely after two months. They were left with no option but to request the municipal commissioner to continue their services. The commissioner told them those who were eligible would be employed.

“Unemployment of people has become a source of income to a section of greedy councilors in Mancherial, Bellampalli, Naspur and other municipalities of the district. Officials should take steps to eradicate corruption among the public representatives and to ensure transparency in recruitment of temporary or contract-based jobs in the civic bodies. Else, the jobseekers continue to be exploited,” Naheem Pasha, an RTI activist opined.