Mahbubnagar: Sarpanches decry dual cheque powers, plan to foil CM's visit

Mahbubnagar: The members of Sarpanch Association from across erstwhile Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda and Medak districts gathered for 'Sarpanchula Sannahaka Meeting' at a functional hall in Jadcherla of Mahbubnagar district on Friday.

The main agenda of the Sarpanches meeting was that recently the Telangana government had brought in a new Panchayat Raj Act under which the unilateral cheque power to Sarpanches was taken away, and further, additional cheque powers were given to deputy Sarpanches along with Sarpanches.

That means from now onwards, the Sarpanches will lose their unilateral decision making powers and they should also take into confidence the deputy Sarpanches in whatever decision they take as part of implementation of development and welfare programmes at gram panchayat level.

"The government's decision of giving dual cheque powers to both Sarpanch and Deputy Sarpanch is against the earlier norm and it is like taking away the rights of Sarpanch. Dual cheque power will serve no purpose, rather it will hinder the process of decision making and development will be at stake. We are demanding the government to restore the powers of Sarpanches and protect their rights," said a member of the Sarpanch Association during their meeting.

Meanwhile, as they were aware of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's visit to Wanaparthy district, the Sarpanch Association members planned to stage a protest against CM's visit to the district. However, after the police came to know about their motives, the police locked the gates of the function all and confined the Sarpanches to the hall without letting them out and disturb the CM's tour to the district.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Bhaskar spoke to the Sarpanch Association leaders and tried to convince them to not to take up any kind of protest during CM's visit. However, the Sarpanch Association members were vehement and were planning to stage a road blockage in Jadcherla. In view of this, the police officials took precautionary measures and prevented the Sarpanches by confining them to the meeting hall.