Medaram contracts stripped from Endow Depts and entrusted to Road & Buildings

In an interesting development, the Telangana government on Thursday transferred the Medaram Jatara contracts from the Endowments Department to the Roads and Buildings department citing technical limitations.

The decision comes after drama unfolded at the residence of Endowments Minister Konda Surekha where police had reached on Wednesday night to take her OSD Sumanth into custody in an extortion case. However, the move was questioned by Konda Surekha’s daughter Sushmita Patel, who had alleged Reddys were conspiring against her family.

Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao issued a memo in this regard on Thursday. According to sources, the government has cited the lack of technical expertise to execute big projects by the Endowments Department.

There has been a tussle between the Endowments Minister Surekha, who also hails from the erstwhile Warangal district and the district in-charge minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy on the issue of awarding contracts in the Medaram. It is alleged that Srinivasa Reddy was calling the shots in awarding the works, which irked the minister.

The government has asked the Endowments Department to handover all the documents related to the works to the Roads and Buildings Department. The memo issued by the chief secretary said, “The biennial Sri Sammakka Saralamma Jatara to be held in January-February 2026, witnesses one of the large scale gatherings of pilgrims from across the country. The government has sanctioned various works relating to the temple and to strengthen the other infrastructure of the area for smooth conduct of jatara. The State government has sanctioned Rs 101 crore, towards the work of reconstruction of pedestals (Gadde) and Prakaram wall at Sri Sammakka Saralamma temple.”

The CS has directed the R&B department to take over and execute the works from the current stage instructing the Endowments Department to handover all the documents relating to the above works to the R & B department immediately. It may be mentioned that the government has sanctioned Rs 150 crore for the Jatara by involving the agency, which had handled the Maha Kumbh Mela held in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.