Traditionally, the sarpanch is a highly regarded individual within the village, responsible for making crucial decisions. Now, in an inspiring turn of events, several sarpanches across the State have stepped up to the plate and taken on the role of garbage collectors, leading by example and earning even more respect from their communities.
Following a strike by sanitation staff in several panchayats for the past week, the streets have become inundated with sundry litter, leaving concerned residents seeking answers on when the garbage would be cleared. Some villages have been unable to employ new personnel to tackle the mounting waste or hire individuals capable of efficiently loading the garbage onto tractors. Adding to the challenges, tractor drivers have occasionally been unavailable.
In such a situation, the sarpanches have embraced the task of garbage collection without a moment’s hesitation, to fill the void left by the absent sanitation staff.
As the garbage pile-up increased, Chittari Goud, sarpanch of Upparpalli village in Dultabad mandal, and vice-sarpanch Renuka changed their roles. While Goud drove the tractor, Renuka collected the garbage and loaded it into the vehicle.
Mr.Goud has decided to take up a special drive from Thursday to further clean the village, which has a population of about 1,600.
Same is the case with Dultabad, the mandal headquarters. Vice-sarpanch Yadagiri, who is now acting sarpanch, did the same thing and collected garbage to avoid any unsightly pile-up in the village. With about 3,000 population, the village generates a lot of garbage on a daily basis and any delay in collecting it makes the job difficult the next day. He has hired four women and two men to collect garbage, transport it in a tractor and dump it outside the village every day. Even drains are being cleared with the help of the newly-created six-member team.
“People are accustomed to garbage collection at the doorstep. We can’t force them to wait for it to be collected. So, we have made alternative arrangements in view of the strike,” Mr. Yadagiri told The Hindu.
For the past week, the sanitation staff in panchayats are on strike demanding regularisation of services and an increase in wages. “Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao has increased their wages from ₹8,500 to ₹9,500 during recent celebrations of Telangana Formation Day. Now they want further increase. But many panchayats are not in a position to pay higher wages,” said a sarpanch on the condition of anonymity.
