On Monday, IT Minister K Taraka Rama Rao handed over a cash cheque to transgenders in Sircilla and also visited a crèche at IDOC in the same location. However, his main focus was on the rural development programme initiated by CM KCR, which has made Telangana villages an example for the country. The Minister congratulated the sarpanchs of the 27 Gram Panchayats in the district who won the first three positions in nine categories as part of the National Panchayat Award-2023 programme. He emphasized that Telangana State is a role model for the country in terms of rural development, with Palle Pragathi bringing about significant changes in sanitation management, planting of plants, and separation of wet and dry garbage. The Minister attributed the success to the joint efforts of Sarpanchs and officials, and claimed that Telangana has 19 out of the 20 best gram panchayats at the national level. He also stated that Rs 1,300 crore due under Rural Development and CDP grants to Gram Panchayats will be released by the end of March, but criticized the Central government for not paying dues of Rs 1,200 crore under the employment guarantee scheme and reducing allocations every year.
