The famous Baba Shadulla Dargah at Badapahad in Varni mandal will soon get a facelift if the promise made by Agriculture Minister P. Srinivas Reddy during an official review at the dargah materialises.
The Minister visited the dargah on Friday, which comes under his Banswada constituency, in the wake of reports of atrocities by the dargah management against visiting devotees and also irregularities in utilising funds. He announced that an official committee comprising Police, Revenue, Minority Welfare Departments and elected representatives would be constituted to check atrocities against devotees visiting the holy place.
He wondered how facilities were not improved for devotees even after spending Rs. 50 lakh.
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Given this, he said an additional amount would be sanctioned and a four-lane road would be laid from Varni to Paidimar Konapur with an estimated outlay of Rs. 40 crore, he said. The Minister informed that bidders secured the contract for Rs. 2.20 crore, but were earning several times more than the bidding amount.
The management was resorting to irregularities and this would be brought to the notice of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, he added. Minority Welfare Department Principal Secretary Umar Sharif said streetlights would be arranged for and other facilities would be provided at the dargah irrespective of the tenders.
Zilla Parishad Chairman Dafedar Raju and NDCCB Chairman Gangadhar Rao Patwari were also present.
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The Shadulla Dargah on a hillock, about 40 km away from the district headquarters town, is the biggest dargah in the State and is visited by devotees from Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka.