Khammam : Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar angry over poor sanitation in villages

Khammam : Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar paid a surprise visit to Pandillapalli and Jagannadhapuram villages in Chintakani mandal in the district on Monday.

After going through the streets, he expressed angry on poor sanitation conditions in the villages and chided that the gram panchayat (GP) staff was negligent in delivering their duties. Stating that the State government through Palle Pragathi aims to ensure better sanitation and cleanliness in rural areas, he questioned the staff as to why they are not carrying out sanitation works in villages even after the government was releasing funds to gram panchayats.

Poor sanitation conditions would lead to spread seasonal diseases, he said while directing the GP officials to address the issue. The Minister visited nurseries in the villages and told

the elected representatives and officials to take the responsibility of taking care of the plants in nurseries.

He directed the officials to take immediate measures to shift nurseries located on private lands to government lands. Public facilities developed in the villages should be put to use without waiting for their formal inauguration, he noted.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao wanted to fulfil Mahatma Gandhi's dream of village self-rule by giving funds directly to the panchayats every month, he said and suggested that GP staff should work accordingly.

Ajay directed the DPO to issue show-cause notices to MPO Srinivas Rao, Pandillapalli and Jagannadhapuram sarpanches, GP secretaries Nikhil and D Vinod for failing to maintain cleanliness in the villages.

ZP Chairman L Kamalraj, MLC B Lakshminarayana, SUDA Chairman B Vijay Kumar, District Collector RV Karnan, Agriculture Officer Vijaya Nirmala and others accompanied the minister. Later Minister Ajay distributed CMRF cheques worth Rs 10.68 lakh to 24 beneficiaries at camp office.