JANGAON: The Mega Leather Park, which was to be established at Station Ghanpur village in Jangaon district, is still in limbo even after five years. It was a ray of hope for thousands of unemployed youths, who travel to Hyderabad every day for work.
Many youths, who lost their jobs because of the Covid pandemic, have been waiting to see a miracle and hoping that the Leather Park works would begin soon and provide them a source of livelihood. The project is yet to take off despite the fact that two former deputy Chief Ministers Kadiyam Srihari and Dr Thatikonda Rajaiah had visited the area and people have submitted several representations to the IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao.
According to the Jangaon district officials, the State government had allocated 117 acres of land to establish the Leather Park in Ghanpur, which would help in creating job opportunities for 25,000 unemployed youth. The DPR has already been submitted to the Centre and the State government has sought an assistance of Rs 105 crore under the Indian Leather Development Programme (ILDP). But the Centre is yet to respond to the proposal sent by the State government, said the officials.
When Express visited the Telangana State Leather Industries Promotion Corporation Limited in Ghanpur village, it was found that the Leather Corporation office has been permanently closed and the building is in a dilapidated state. The land allotted for the Park has been turned into a dumpyard by the people of neighbouring villages.
B Vidyasagar, a resident of Ghanpur village, alleged that the government had not taken up a single work for the Park. Ghanpur has good rail and road connectivity, and yet, there are no industries here, he said and added that the former Deputy CMs, who won from the constituency, failed to attract companies to the Leather Park and generate employment opportunities for the local youth.
The TRS leaders have been submitting representations to KTR and washing their hands off, he alleged and said that the ruling party MLA and former MLC were more interested in levelling allegations against each other than developing the constituency. When Express contacted MLA Dr Thatikonda Rajaiah, he was not available for comment.