Spend at least 2 hrs every day with people: Min

Hyderabad: Revenue and housing minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy on Sunday called upon councillors and corporators to spend at least two hours every day among people in their respective wards, listen to their grievances and try to solve their problems.Addressing the charge-taking ceremony of Edulapuram municipal chairperson P Anitha and felicitation of newly-elected councillors, Srinivas Reddy said not every work required funds and that many works and grievances could be resolved by visiting the site or spot. He said politics should be confined to election time and that, once elections were over, the focus should be on development and implementation of promises made to the people.
The minister said the assurances given during the election campaign in Edulapuram and other urban local bodies would be fulfilled and that development works would be taken up on priority by the Congress govt. He said Edulapuram municipality was spread over a wide area with several open plots and that proper utilisation of such land parcels was necessary.He advised councillors to make it mandatory to visit their respective divisions and wards and be among the people at least five days a week and a minimum of two hours daily, especially in the morning hours. He said regular visits would also result in officials and field-level staff working more efficiently and improving the system.The minister said the immediate priority was to attend and address drinking water issues, solve stagnation of drainage water problems, and prevent encroachments on drains. He said he would hold a review meeting again after 15 days.The Congress govt, he said, was laying special focus on urban infrastructure development and reiterated that Edulapuram would be developed as a model municipality in the state.He directed municipal officials to remove constructions that had come up encroaching upon nalas and said a municipal council meeting would be held within 15 days to finalise works to be taken up.