Hyderabad: Over a dozen former sarpanches held a shirtless protest at the Suryapet District Collectorate on Monday, March 9, accusing the state government of not clearing the bills of the developmental works they had carried out in their term.
The former sarpanches held placards and made a sit-in at the main entrance of the collectorate sans their shirts, demanding the Congress government to deliver the promise it made before the 2023 Assembly elections and the gram panchayat elections held in 2025 on clearing their bills.
They said that many of them had borrowed money from private money lenders to carry out various developmental works in their villages during the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government, for which they were yet to receive bills.
The former sarpanches recalled that many sarpanches took their own lives, unable to bear the harassment from money lenders, as they had seen no hope that they would get their bills paid.
Demanding that the state government immediately clear their pending bills, with interest, the sarpanches warned that they would intensify their agitation if the government failed to deliver on its promise.
Delay makes sarpanch attempt suicide
In February 2023, Radha, the sarpanch of Venunagagar gram panchayat in Pembi mandal of Nirmal district, had attempted suicide by consuming pesticide at her house.
She was shifted to the Nirmal Government Hospital for treatment by the villagers, after which her condition was said to be stable.
Delay in the release of funds for various developmental works was assumed to be the reason behind her taking the drastic step, her family members had claimed.
In January 2023, Congress’ Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Raj Sanghathan had organised a protest at the Indira Park in Hyderabad, accusing the then BRS government of failing to provide funds to panchayat raj institutions in Telangana.
They had charged the BRS government with having diverted gram panchayat’s development funds to other sectors.
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