Telangana Govt Clears Rs 153 Cr Pending Bills Of Gram Panchayats
A total of 9,990 bills, which had been pending for several months, were cleared in a single day.
Hyderabad:In a major relief to former sarpanches and rural local bodies, the state government on Wednesday cleared pending dues amounting to ₹153 crore for gram panchayats. A total of 9,990 bills, which had been pending for several months, were cleared in a single day.
These payments come as part of a phased plan initiated by the Congress government, which assumed power in December 2023, to settle arrears left behind by the previous BRS government. When the BRS government demitted office, it had left outstanding dues to gram panchayats nearing ₹1,500 crore.
The term of the gram panchayats ended in February 2024. Since then, several former sarpanches, whose tenure concluded in February 2024, staged protests both in Hyderabad and across various districts, demanding the release of pending funds. They claimed that during the BRS regime, they had undertaken numerous development activities in their villages using personal funds and loans, expecting reimbursement from the government, which never came.
On Wednesday, the state government released payments for all bills below ₹10 lakh, prioritising those pending until August 2024. In addition to the gram panchayat bills, the government also released ₹85 crore under the Special Development Fund (SDF) for various works initiated during the previous BRS regime.
Officials stated that the process of clearing the remaining arrears will continue in phases, with emphasis on ensuring that rural development does not suffer due to financial backlogs.
The release of pending bills to gram panchayats triggered speculations that the Congress government is planning to hold gram panchayat elections in July. Gram panchayats are currently run by special officers for over a year in the absence of sarpanches whose tenure ended in February 2024.