The Andhra Pradesh government on Sunday suspended the Commissioner of Vuyyuru Nagar Panchayat in Krishna district, over the incident of dumping of garbage in front of four bank branches in the town last week allegedly by sanitation workers as a mark of protest over “indifferent attitude” in sanctioning loans. The government also sought an explanation from the Commissioners of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation and Machilipatnam Municipal Corporation in the district, where similar incidents were reported, official sources said.
The state government is said to have acted after the Union government took up the issue and registered its objection with the Finance Department, the sources added.
On the day of the incident, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had discussed it with Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath. “At 15:15 hrs today, spoke to Finance Minister @IamBuggana garu on garbage dumped at the entrance of bank branches in Krishna Dist, AP, inconveniencing staff & customers. He assured me that all steps will be taken to ensure safety for all (sic)” Nirmala Sitharaman had tweeted.
At 15:15 hrs today, spoke to Finance Minister @IamBuggana garu on garbage dumped at the entrance of bank branches in Krishna Dist, AP, inconveniencing staff & customers. He assured me that all steps will be taken to ensure safety for all. @PIB_India @pibvijayawada @DFS_India pic.twitter.com/QcMb8oFLzk
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) December 24, 2020
On December 24, garbage was found dumped in front of four bank branches in Vuyyuru, in what the Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration G Srkr Vijay Kumar now called a protest against the indifferent attitude of the bankers in sanctioning loans under various schemes.
Such incidents came to light in Vijayawada city and Machilipatnam as well. In Vuyyuru, notices were pasted outside the banks where garbage was dumped, attributing the act of protest to the Commissioner of Vuyyuru Municipality.
In a report to Krishna District Collector Md Imtiaz, Vuyyuru Municipality Commissioner N Prakash Rao had said that beneficiaries of various welfare schemes like the welfare schemes Jagananna Thodu (for small traders), PM Svanidhi (for street vendors) and YSR Cheyutha (for women entrepreneurs) had complained that in spite of making daily visits to the bank, the managers were talking to them in a belittling manner and not sanctioning their loans.
The garbage dumping incidents led to strong protests from the banks, and left the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government embarrassed as opposition parties alleged that it was a state-sponsored act.
The bank unions called the acts atrocious, and strongly condemned the government attitude. “It is highly deplorable that the municipal officials themselves supervised the dumping of garbage in front of the banks. Such things, targeting the banks, have never happened anywhere else,” the All India Bank Employees’ Association said.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly N Chandrababu Naidu took to Twitter to lash out at the YSRCP government over the incidents.
Watch: Garbage dumped in front of banks in Andhra in protest