It may sound strange that the Telangana government on Monday issued a Government Order to pay Rs. 10 lakh each as monetary assistance to 459 bereaved families of those who sacrificed their lives for the cause of Telangana, but failed to find the address of at least 23 persons.
Eighteen of these 23 persons hail from Warangal district. Although their names have been included in the list, officials have put NA (not available) remark against the column meant for their address. At least five other names in the list from Hyderabad also have no addresses. The TS government had announced a scheme to provide monetary assistance to the bereaved families, besides other benefits.
There was double entry of deceased persons in some cases. For example, K. Venugopal Reddy, a student of Osmania University, was found dead on the campus and his name was in the Hyderabad list but without address. Incidentally, the same name is included as Kondedi Venugopal Reddy in Nalgonda list. Another anomaly in the list was that of Meegada Sai Kumar Yadav, deceased person from Nalgonda. His name too finds mention in the list from Hyderabad, but without any address.
Deputy Leader of Congress in Council Md. Ali Shabbir slammed the government for errors in the martyrs list. “While I would like to appreciate that the State government has sanctioned Rs. 10 lakh each to the families of Telangana martyrs, I regret to say that only 459 such families were covered under the scheme,” he said, in an open letter written to the Chief Minister.
He reminded that the Chief Minister, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, on multiple occasions, claimed that more than 2,000 persons have sacrificed their lives for the cause of Telangana. “When more than 2,000 people have sacrificed their lives for the statehood cause, why is it so that the government is paying compensation to only 459 families? Why the district Collectors were able to identify and furnish information about only 459 cases, while ignoring almost two third of other martyrs?” he asked.
“The officials did not show any seriousness in preparing the list of martyrs,” he said.
