It is almost one week to the reorganisation of Telangana districts and formation of 21 new districts but the State continues to witness protests by the dissatisfied people in different parts of the State.
After two persons ended their lives allegedly in protest against the reorganisation of districts in Telangana, the Telangana Joint Action Committee convener Kodandaram on Monday met State Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma to discuss the issue.
While a 25-year-old U Raju set himself ablaze on the famous Tank Bund of Hyderabad to protest the merger of his Nagireddypet mandal in new Kamareddy district, 18-year-old girl Beediga Soni was found dead in Gattuppal village of Nalgonda district.
While the locals linked both the deaths to the ongoing protest against the status of their villages the police said there could be other motive behind the incidents.
Kamareddy district SP N Shweta said that Raju was facing a lot of financial difficulties and he was in debt. “This could be the reason for his setting himself ablaze”.
But the people in Nagireddypet mandal said that Raju was unhappy with the merger of his village in Kamareddy district by shifting it from Medak. The people were demanding that it should be retained in Medak as it was jus 16 kms away from the headquarters while Kamareddy was 62 kms away.
In case of the girl, the police suspect she was murdered and did not commit suicide. But the village was in turmoil over the Government’s decision not to upgrade the village to Mandal headquarter.
Kodandaram criticised the recent moves of reorganising the districts and the revenue mandals and demanded that the Government should talk to the agitating people.
He expressed regrets that the people were dying for the cause of their village. He discussed the protest at different places in the State after the reorganisation.
He pleaded with the Chief Secretary to take the steps in accordance with people’s aspirations. “There should be an opportunity for the people to meet the CM and present their demands before him”, he said.
He regretted that the Government’s policy of suppression the public demands was leading to the protest. “The Government which came out of a public movement should be more responsive towards the demands of the people”, said Kodandaram who has become more critical of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti Government.