Hyderabad: The Congress party has strongly denied the accusations made by former Minister T Harish Rao regarding the delay in releasing funds to Panchayati Raj. They stated that the entire PR system has not been paralyzed, and there might be exceptional cases where funds did not reach their intended destination.
PCC’s Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Raj Sanghatan chairman R Siddeshwar spoke to the media on Wednesday, criticizing the BRS leadership for shedding crocodile tears. He mentioned that the previous government had neglected sarpanches, leading some of them to financial ruin and even suicide. Funds meant for Panchayati Raj were reportedly misused by the previous government, forcing sarpanches to work as laborers or under MGNREGA. Some sarpanches took their own lives due to pending bills and unresolved arrears from development projects.
Harish Rao had demanded on Tuesday that the government release funds that had been delayed for seven months. He claimed that Panchayat secretaries were forced to pay out of their own pockets, causing them to fall into debt.
