HYDERABAD: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday accused the TRS government of turning Panchayat Raj (PR) institutions and urban local bodies into token entities, and using them for corruption. Speaking at the day-long Satyagraha organised by the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayati Raj Sanghatan to highlight the negligence of PR institutions by the government, he said Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has crushed gram panchayats by ending their relevance. KCR has turned elected representatives of PR institutions and urban local bodies into symbolic entities with no powers or say in the decision-making process, he said.
The TPCC chief said the strengthening of PR institutions and other local bodies is essential for the survival of democracy. He alleged that the government has been harassing the elected representatives of the Congress, especially in the rural areas of Telangana.
Congress Legislative Party leader Bhatti Vikramarka said during the Congress regime, the funds were directly utilised by the elected representatives. “Now, the government is making the PR institutions to spend on the government’s programmes such as purchasing tractors, construction of cemeteries and Haritha Haram,” he said.
The Congress leaders alleged that their TRS counterparts have been looting gram panchayats by taking a commission from agencies for buying tractors and LEDs. They said panchayats are being forced to buy tractors from select contractors. Danasari Anasuya, T Jayaprakash Reddy, V Hanumantha Rao, Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Mohammed Ali Shabbir, Ponnam Prabhakar, Dr J Geeta Reddy, Dr Palvai Harish and others attended the protest.