Panchayat status to all tribal hamlets on the anvil

New legislation for the purpose will be enacted, says Chief Minister

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao.

The State Government has resolved to bring out a legislation aimed at according village panchayat status to all tribal hamlets in the State so that residents of these hamlets, including those in far-flung areas, would receive the benefits of the spree of welfare and development programmes.

A bill to this effect is under preparation and the State Cabinet, which is slated to meet on Monday, will discuss the provisions threadbare before introducing it in the forthcoming session of the State Legislature. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said once the bill was passed, each of these villages would be allotted ₹ 10 lakh to ₹ 25 lakh, depending on the size of population, so that issues of immediate public importance could be taken up.

‘Revolutionary act’

“It is a revolutionary legislation aimed at taking development to remotest places,” the Chief Minister said. The Chief Minister was here on Sunday to lay the foundation stone for a series of development projects, including a mega textile park, outer ring road for Warangal city, IT incubation centre at Madikonda and flyover at Kazipet.

The upcoming textile park would be among the biggest clusters and would act as one-stop shop for all kinds of garments.

He appreciated the efforts of the officials concerned led by Industries Minister K. T. Rama Rao and exhorted the weavers who had migrated to Bhiwandi, Surat and other places to return to the State. The closure of Azam Jahi Mills had forced weavers to migrate as employment opportunity to locals was denied. “I had promised to revive the industry during the separate State movement and the people stood by me,” he said.

Warangal, the second biggest city in the State, had good rail-road connectivity infrastructure and the Government was committed to developing Mamnoor airport, and facilitating air connectivity to investors/businessmen to reach the city. In addition, it was proposed to set up more educational institutions as also a tribal university in the district while the district would also be benefited by the Kaleshwaram project.

The Chief Minister arrived around 4 pm and left around 5.15 pm after addressing a public meeting. During his close-to-half-an-hour address, he elaborated the Government’s welfare and development programmes, including the land record purification and rectification exercise.

Deputy Chief Minister Kadiyam Srihari and Mr. Rama Rao spoke while Ministers T. Nageswara Rao and Eatala Rajender and several other people’s representatives were present.