Sarpanch wins hearts of villagers

MIRYALAGUDEM, Nalgonda: He is a Sarpanch with difference. He won the hearts of the villagers with his commitment and principles, which he followed in his life.
From his election in 2000 as village Sarpanch of Alagadapa in this mandal Pandurangarao put his village on the development track. Initially he faced teething troubles from the villagers. But his workmanship paid him in long run.First time in the history of Local bodies, Pandurangarao opted to go for Referendum on his functioning on Sunday, in which he won the confidence of the villagers.
Alagadapa village with 1800 population in Miryalagudem mandal is 78 kms from the district headquarters and the village had no basic amenities when Pandurangarao was elected. He started with reforming the people by strictly implementing total prohibition in village, for which he faced lot of resistance from the villagers.
But he slowly nurtured the village and convinced to be away from liquor. He undertook major re-construction work of village major tank, which was built during Nizam''s dynasty and slowly it was dried up. The re-construction of tank with Rs 40 lakhs paved the way for him to gain the confidence of the farmers in the village.
But after some time the village, which was away from politics, has taken political shades. Sarpanch Pandurangarao started introspecting himself and decided to go for Referendum on his functioning. He asked Jana Vignan Vedika, Human Rights organisations and Loksatta to conduct Referendum on Sunday. Out of 1789 votes polled, Panduranga Rao got 1710 and 73 villagers voted against him.
Talking to The Times of India, Pandurangarao, who worked as vice-president of AP Civil Liberties organisation and resigned after Azam Ali''s murder, said that the government is neglecting the local bodies and he wants to fight against it in the Court of Law. He said that every political leader in public life should go for Referendum when he feels that he was lost the confidence of the people.