Many Andhra Pradesh, Telangana MPs reluctant to 'adopt' villages

HYDERABAD: In perhaps an ironic display of unity, MPs from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana seem to be the only ones in the country to not have identified villages for development under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna (SAGY), launched in October by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As per the scheme, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs should select and develop 2,500 villages over the next three years using their constituency funds and other resources.While the village to be developed by an LS member should be part of his/her constituency, an RS member should select a village from the state he has been elected from. However, nominated MPs like Sachin Tendulkar can choose any village in the country.
In states such as Kerala, Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, all Lok Sabha MPs have identified villages and the development plans are under preparation, according to a note prepared by the Union ministry of rural development. However, the record sheet of MPs in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana shows a poor performance, with around 30% of the elected representatives of both houses in AP and 29% in Telangana not identifying their villages yet.
Out of 25 Lok Sabha MPs in AP, only 19 have identified their villages while 12 of the 17 MPs from Telangana have done so. Among the RS members, out of 11 from AP, only four - YS Chowdary (Veerullapadu), Thota Seetharamalakshmi (Akividu), Nirmala Seetharaman (Narsapuram) and K Chiranjeevi (Mogalturu) - have identified their villages. The remaining seven MPs - K Keshava Rao, Jairam Ramesh, JD Seelam, MA Khan, T Subbarami Reddy and Renuka Chowdary - are yet to initiate the process. Similarly, from Telangana, of the total seven RS members, three - CM Ramesh, KVP Ramachandra Rao and V Hanumantha Rao - are yet to identify their villages.
In fact, some of the MPs cite ending up on the wrong side of the fence after bifurcation as the major reason for their reluctance in choosing their villages. Telangana MPs K Keshava Rao and M A Khan have been elected to the upper house from AP, while CM Ramesh and KVP Ramachandra Rao, who hail from AP, got elected from Telangana. "Why should I develop a village from a state I don't belong to," appears to be the excuse for these MPs.
In fact, Keshava Rao went to the extent of openly declaring that he will not select a village from AP, the state from where he has been elected. "I have written to the Rajya Sabha chairman stating that I cannot spend the MPLADs money on a village to which I have no connection. I owe a lot to Telangana and want to select a village from my home state for development. I have urged the Rajya Sabha chairman to allow me to select a village from Telangana instead of AP," Keshava Rao told TOI.
Rao said that the house committee, headed by deputy chairperson PJ Kurien, which is meeting on December 16, is expected to take a decision on his request.