After converting several tribal hamlets or ‘thandas’ into gram panchayats to establish self-rule, the State government has embarked on yet another comprehensive programme to provide road connectivity to these hamlets.
The State government has sanctioned 88 works under the Scheduled Tribes Special Development Fund for laying BT roads over a stretch of 211 km in 16 constituencies at an estimated cost of ₹156.6 crore. The SC and ST Development Fund Act 2017 has been passed, and provisions for the allocation of funds for the development of SCs and STs in the State have been incorporated for this purpose.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said that he intends to establish road connectivity to these tribal panchayats, which was key for the empowerment of Scheduled Tribes for whom access to basic amenities has remained out of reach until now. Orders for laying the roads has already been issued, and the work is progressing briskly under the supervision of the Engineer-In-Chief of the Panchayat Raj department.
Survey works for the alignment of roads and related issues has commenced in coordination with the local public representatives. For instance, the Panchayat Raj department has completed survey of 13 km BT road sanctioned from Papakollu of Julurupadu mandal of Wyra constituency to Buradaraghavapuram of Enkur mandal at an estimated cost of ₹9.75 crore.
Officials said the residents of these habitations were happy with the government’s initiative to provide connectivity which will ensure access to education, medical facilities and the availability of essential commodities. They lamented that the previous government had neglected the tribal habitations as a result of which they were deprived of basic amenities and stayed away from the mainstream for decades.
Since the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (formerly Telangana Rashtra Samithi) took over the reins of the State in 2014, the government spent ₹47,282 crore for the welfare of STs. This development follows elevating thandas as gram panchayats, enabling their self-rule in line with the longpending demand for Maa Thandalo Maa Rajyam (my habitation, my rule).
The policy initiative by the government declaring thandas and gudems (habitations) with more than 500 population as gram panchayats ushered in the social development of the ST communities with over 3,140 thandas now receiving benefits on a par with other rural local bodies.
With thousands of tribal youth winning elections and getting elected as sarpanches and playing an active role in the transformation, the face of these thandas is fast changing. Given the government’s decision to allocate adequate funds without just constituting these newly-constituted gram panchayats, these bodies, which were hitherto waiting to enjoy the fruits of government schemes, are now witnessing continuous growth.
While ₹20 lakh each has been sanctioned for the construction of buildings for the 3,140-odd panchayats, the government has decided to fill up 1,650 posts in the tribal welfare department and sanctioned ₹1,385 crore for the construction of 2,500 km roads connecting 1,287 ST panchayats.
With thousands of tribal youth winning elections and getting elected as sarpanches and playing an active role in the transformation, the face of these thandas is fast changing
