Model Panchayats Set Examples in Village Development
The progressive and award-winning villages are inspiring voters to demand comparable progress in the high-stakes polls.
Hyderabad:As Telangana races toward its three-phase gram panchayat elections beginning December 11, model villages like Mall, Hanwada, and Ankapur are redefining rural self-governance through innovative plans for enhancing revenue, improving agricultural output, and upgrading civic amenities. The progressive and award-winning villages are inspiring voters to demand comparable progress in the high-stakes polls.
Mall gram panchayat in Yacharam mandal in Rangareddy district engineered a fiscal turnaround by raising house tax collection from 63 per cent in 2014-15 to 99 per cent by 2023-24 and generating nearly Rs 1 crore through digital tools and community drives.
Key innovations include a weekly cattle market that brings sizeable annual revenue, along with fees from trade licences, building permissions, lighting and drainage taxes, shopping-complex rents, and waste-to-compost sales. The village clinched India’s top Atmanirbhar Panchayat Award in 2025.
“We turned waste into wealth and taxes into trust — now roads rise without grants, let elections spread this pride,” Ramulu, one of elderly persons in the village, explained.
Hanwada gram panchayat in Mahbubnagar district adopted the e-panchayat system in 2021, transforming services in the village by curbing corruption, cutting delays, and enabling equitable ICT access.
Online and transparent processes have built accountability without red tape, earning acclaim for efficiency. “Villagers no longer pay bribes or make taluk treks — e-services brought governance home,” says youngster Ravi Kishan.
Ankapur in Nizamabad district excels in modern agriculture and civic amenities, pioneering organic farming through vermicompost units, waste segregation, and nurseries. Its hygiene-driven initiatives and expanding green cover have raised living standards, earning recognition from the International Rice Research Institute as a model village.
With nearly one in four families linked to the US, the village is often dubbed “mini-USA.” Farmer and cold-storage owner Yalluri Nagaratnam said: “Collective action yielded bountiful harvests — elect honest sarpanches to fuel this green revolution.”