NALGONDA: It has been over two months since the sarpanches were elected after the recent Gram Panchayat polls and taken over as village heads. And yet, in erstwhile Nalgonda district, they are yet to receive authorisation of withdrawing money from the government funds to pay salaries or even invest in projects. There are 1,750 gram panchayats in the erstwhile district, of which, the major panchayats employ 10 while the others employ at least six persons, each. All of these employees are yet to receive their salaries for the last two months because the sarpanches cannot decide the flow of money in panchayats.
Meanwhile, the inability of the sarpanch to withdraw funds from the panchayat account, also means that all major development works remain stalled. With the summer season on, villages are unable to arrange even for drinking water during shortage. This, when most of the hand pumps are under repair.
All the sanitation works are also put on hold while the drainage systems are in an urgent need of maintenance and street lights need a change of tubes. The villagers are mounting pressure on their sarpanches to approach the constituency MLAs in the matter. Officials concerned told Express that the decision to give the power to issue cheques to the sarpanches is now pending with the State government.