Thousands of Adivasis in Adilabad district were disappointed when Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao cancelled his January 22 visit to Nagoba jatara at Keslapur in Indervelli mandal.
Among them was Kumram Sone Rao, the grandson of legendary Gond martyr Kumram Bheem. Mr. Sone Rao was looking forward to meeting the Chief Minister, who had promised him Rs.10 lakh and government employment to his daughter and son. The promise was made during the CM’s visit to Jodeghat village in Kerameri mandal last October.
“It has been more than three months since the Chief Minister made his promise. There is no word from the government since,” Mr. Sone Rao complained.
The Chief Minister had made the promise apparently moved by the difficult circumstances in which the family of the martyr lived in their village. “The government had issued a GO sanctioning Rs.25 crore for the development of Jodeghat village within three days of the Chief Minister’s visit but nothing came of the promise made to Sone Rao,” pointed out Mesram Jangu, a former chairman of the Nagoba temple committee.
“This is not the first time that I have been stood up after being promised Rs.10 lakh. In 2001, the then Union Minister and current Maharashtra Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao had also promised to sanction the same amount to my family,” Sone Rao recalled, driving home the point.
