Hyderabad: Telangana Kinnera player and Padma Shri awardee Darshanam Mogilaiah was on Wednesday, December 17, seen cleaning his own defaced mural in Hyderabad.
Mogilaiah cleaned the mural on the LB Nagar flyover after spotting posters and gutka stains on the artwork. A video shared on social media shows the folk singer trying to remove the posters on the mural.
Mogalaiah was awarded the Padma Shri in 2022. However, he has faced financial hardships since then.
“One of my sons suffers from seizures. For medicines (son and myself) alone, I need at least Rs 7,000 a month. Then there are regular medical tests and other expenses,” Mogilaiah, father to nine children, said in the past. Three of his kids died from ailments, three are married and three others are still students and dependent on Mogilaiah.
The artist’s wife passed away four years ago. “I tried to reach out to multiple people for work. People sympathised and politely turned me away. All hailed me for my glorious past and even gave me small amounts, but I got no employment,” said Mogilaiah.
After Mogilaiah was awarded the Padma Shri in 2022, then Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao felicitated him and announced a reward of Rs 1 crore and a house site in Hyderabad.
“I used that money (Rs 1 crore state grant) for my children’s weddings. I even bought a piece of land in Turkayamjal. I started building a house but had to stop midway as I ran out of funds,” the report quoted Mogilaiah.
Allotments pending
In 2015, the Telangana government awarded Mogilaiah the state’s highest honour, the Ugadi Puraskaram, and promised him a monthly pension of Rs 10,000. The report further quotes Mogilaiah stating that things got especially tough when the Rs 10,000 monthly honorarium sanctioned by the state was discontinued recently, not sure why it happened.
“Allotment of a 600 sq yard plot in Rangareddy district still pending. I have been making the rounds of government offices and meeting public representatives for help. All respond positively but do nothing. What’s worse, many people click photos with me and circulate them, saying I am begging for existence. It is very painful,” Mogilaiah said.
Along with the 1 crore grant, the state had also announced a 600-square-yard plot in the Rangareddy district for the artiste. The allotment is still pending.
The Kinnera player recently met with Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy and deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka. During the meeting, the chief minister directed Mogilaiah to speak with minister Konda Surekha and promised to address his concerns. Mogilaiah stated that he is now waiting for a decision from the government regarding his issues.
