CM Revanth Reddy Plans Direct Funds for Sarpanches
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has announced a major decision to empower village administrations. To ensure faster development, the government will now provide funds directly to sarpanches, bypassing middle-level delays. Major villages will receive ₹10 Lakh each, while smaller villages are set to get ₹5 Lakh under a Special Development Fund. The CM emphasized that these funds are independent of the influence of local Ministers or MLAs, allowing sarpanches to address immediate local needs like sanitation and roads.
In another significant move, the government has decided to fill governing bodies of cooperative societies through nominations rather than elections.This applies to nearly 980 Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies and nine District Cooperative Central Banks. While the ruling party views this as a way to streamline administration, opposition leaders from the BRS and BJP have criticized the move. They argue that bypassing elections is an attempt to avoid democratic accountability and consolidate political control over rural financial institutions.
Meanwhile, a massive administrative exercise has been completed in Hyderabad. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has finalized its ward delimitation following the merger of 27 peripheral urban areas.4 The city’s jurisdiction has expanded significantly, and the number of wards is set to double from 150 to 300. This reorganization aims to improve service delivery and administrative efficiency, but it has also sparked intense political debate over the new boundaries ahead of the upcoming civic polls.
On the investigation front, the phone-tapping case has taken a serious turn. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) is likely to summon former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and senior leader T. Harish Rao for questioning after the upcoming Assembly session.Former intelligence officials have reportedly given statements linking the tapping to higher authorities. Harish Rao has dismissed these developments as “diversionary politics,” claiming the government is trying to hide its failures in providing power and water to farmers.
