Gram panchayat offices in Andhra to get YSRCP look

Amaravati: Gram panchayat offices in Andhra Pradesh will now don a new look as the buildings will be painted in the colours of the ruling YSRCP and also display a picture of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The offices of village secretariats, as the gram panchayat or village-level local body will now be known, will be painted white, blue and green like the colours on the flag of YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).

Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Department has recently issued instructions to all the district collectors in this regard.

The collectors were also asked to ensure that the picture of the Chief Minister is displayed on the name board.

In an attempt to take administration to the doorsteps of people, Jagan government has announced setting up village secretariats across the state from October 2. Each secretariat will have 10 employees, who will ensure corruption-free delivery of services.

Main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has slammed the government for the decision to paint village secretariats in the ruling party's colours and termed it as a blatant misuse of power.

A political analyst says by appointing its own cadres or sympathizers in the village secretariats and by painting the gram panchayat offices in its colours, the YSRCP is looking to get a stranglehold in the villages.

The move comes amid continuing tension between followers of YSRCP and TDP in several villages.

The main opposition party has alleged that its cadres are coming under increasing attacks by the ruling party leaders. After YSRCP came to power in May, some villages in all the three regions of the state witnessed clashes between two groups.

TDP president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday met what he calls victims of YSRCP's excesses in Guntur district and demanded intervention by the Governor to check the 'repression' by the ruling party.