Hyderabad: The Cabinet on Friday approved formation of new municipalities and gram panchayats in state from August. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao chaired the marathon meeting which continued for over six hours at Pragathi Bhavan. With the term of present gram panchayats ending on July 31, the government has decided to implement the new Municipal Act and new Panchayat Raj Act from August 1 to pave way for creation of new municipalities by merging existing panchayats and upgrading some villages as gram panchayats, sources said.
Mr Rao also ruled out reports of early polls for Lok Sabha or Assembly saying that the time is short to make any such attempts at this stage. He reportedly said, “Elections will be held as scheduled in April or May 2019. All ministers and MLAs should spend more time in their constituencies and take up various development programmes and get closer to people. Non-performers will be shown the door.”
Since the case on holding elections for gram panchayats is pending in the High Court over reservations to Backward Classes, the government had postponed the same. The Cabinet on Friday also approved the appointment of special officers for gram panchayats from August 1 till elections are held. The Cabinet also approved launching of Rythu Bheema scheme on August 15 to provide Rs 5 lakh free insurance cover to all farmers in state, besides the launch of 'Kanti Velugu' programme on August 15 to conduct free eye checkups and surgeries besides providing spectacles to all needy residents across the state.
Appointment of 9,200 panchayat secretaries to village panchayats was also given the green signal on Friday. The Cabinet meeting assumed significance in the backdrop of the state bifurcation issues hogging the limelight due to a no-confidence motion moved by the TD against the NDA government recently, which was defeated in the Lok Sabha. Mr Rao said, “We will not oppose whatever is given to AP within the ambit of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisa-tion Act, 2014. But, if they give more than what has been promised in the Act, we will not sit quiet. For us, the interests of Telangana are of paramount importance than anything else.”
