Hyderabad: It is almost a week since 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 people ended their lives, allegedly in protest against the reorganisation of districts in Telangana, the Telangana Joint Action Committee convener Prof Kodandaram on Monday met the state Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma to discuss the issue.
While a 25-year-old man, U. Raju, set himself ablaze on the famous Tank Bund of Hyderabad to protest the merger of his Nagireddypet manual in new Kamareddy district, 18-year-old girl Beediga Soni was found dead in mysterious circumstances in Gattuppal village of Nalgonda district.
While the local people linked both the deaths to the ongoing protests against the status of their villages, police said there could be other motives behind the incidents.
Kamareddy district superintendent of police N. Shweta said Raju was facing a lot of financial difficulties and he was in debt.
“This could be the reason for his setting himself ablaze,” Shweta said.
But the people in Nagireddypet manual said Raju was unhappy with the merger of his village with Kamareddy district, shifting it from Medak.
Some residents were demanding that it should remain in Medak, as it is just 16km away from the headquarters while, Kamareddy is 62km away.
In case of the girl, 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 mandalas and demanded the government should talk to the agitating people.
He expressed regret that the people were dying for the cause of their village.
He highlighted the protests at different places in the state after the recent reorganisation of districts.
He pleaded with the Chief Secretary to take the steps in accordance with the aspirations of the people. “There should be an opportunity for the people to meet the Chief Minister and present their demands before him”, he said.
He said he regretted that the government’s policy was leading to the protests.
“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 in the recent months.
