To fulfil electoral promises, Telangana rural leader to sell her land

Chimpula Shailaja, ZPTC member of Chevella mandal, decided to sell her own land to get funds to fulfil promises she made during elections.
To fulfil electoral promises, Telangana rural leader to sell her land
To fulfil electoral promises, Telangana rural leader to sell her land
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“We can’t simply make promises and get away without doing anything,” Chimpula Shailaja points out.

Shailaja is an elected representative of the Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) of Chevella mandal, one of the politically active landscapes in Ranga Reddy district. She won in 2014 with a bumper majority as a candidate of the ruling TRS party.

In a surprising move, the ZPTC member recently decided to sell off her family property in order to obtain funds to fulfil the promises she made during elections.

Shailaja says, as days passed after she got elected, she started feeling very uncomfortable as she found herself unable to keep the promises she made to the electorate due to lack of funds.

“It’s been four years now… I had assured proper road facility for farmers… Cement Concrete (CC) roads, CC drains and drinking water facility.”

Shailaja found that whenever she went to any public meetings or gatherings, people would start questioning her and her husband about the promises.

Though she visited the district officials multiple times, they did not seem to be moved as they have failed to disburse the funds nor give her an answer.

A disappointed Shailaja and her husband Satyanarayana decided to sell off their family property and have put up an advertisement on their land in Chevella for the last two days asking buyers to come forward.

How is her ‘For Sale’ ad different? Shailaja decided to showcase the reasons for selling the land on the ad itself. It reads: “When we contested in the elections, we promised to do some development works. However, due to a series of events and the government’s financial deficit we couldn’t do that. It is our responsibility to keep up our word, so in order to take up the development works we want to sell our land. Interested parties can come forward.”

Seigniorage fees collected from mining companies that are operating in the district were also not disbursed to local bodies, according to concerned GO. Shailaja also alleges that the 14th Finance Commission funds have also not been delivered, which is one of the prime reasons for the delay in starting the development works in mandal.

United Ranga Reddy district has to get its due seigniorage share of more than Rs 500 crore, of which Chevella has a share of nearly Rs 22 crore.

In 2017, Shailaja had filed a writ petition in the Hyderabad High Court against the Telangana government authorities seeking disbursement of funds. The court directed the officials to do the same within two months. Despite the court order, authorities have failed to take action even after nearly one year.

Shailaja, who has studied till Intermediate, is clearly disappointed with the negligence and delay by the authorities.

Shailaja said, “Speedy and transparent development is required. People vote for us thinking we will do something. We are fed up with the authorities… so we decided to do the best we can.”

When asked if this was a move to mount pressure on the government, Satyanarayana denies it saying, “It’s been four years. If we don’t do anything it would be unfair on our part, we will definitely sell.”

Revealing the priority of work to be undertaken after the piece of land was sold, Shailaja says she plans to build pucca roads in Madikatta, Urelli and Jalaguda villages, where the farms and fields are affected the worst during the rainy season.

The duo informed that they were getting a good response from aspiring buyers and might close the deal soon.

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