Indira Mahila Shakti canteen goes into legal tussle in Telangana

Hyderabad: In a strange case, the Telangana High Court has issued directions to main status quo, preventing the Jangaon district administration from removing an Indira Mahila Shakti canteen from IDOC Complex in Jangaon town located near the district collectorate.

According to the writ petition filed before the High Court by the counsel of Palamakula Chinna Manjula and Potkanuri Vijayalakshmi, they have been running ‘Vanitha Tea Stall‘ established under the Indira Mahila Shakti scheme from August 2025.

The District Rural Development Officer (DRDO) was claimed to have identified the women as the beneficiaries under the Indira Mahila Shakti scheme.

As per the petition filed by Advocate Banoth Dharmabiksham, the municipal commissioner had also instructed the officials concerned, to give electricity connection for running the tea stall, and the petitioners have been paying the electricity bills since then.

The women who claimed to be Self-Help Group (SHG) women, alleged that District Collector Sandeep Kumar Jha had instructed the municipal commissioner to use the help of the Station House Officer of the Jangaon town police station, to remove them from that shop.

The petitioners’ counsel also argued that due legal process was not followed to vacate them from the stall, claiming that no prior notice was issued by the district administration to the SHG women.

The petitioners had named the principal secretary of the finance department as the first respondent in the case.

On March 18, the High Court has issued directions to maintain status-quo on the case, till the next hearing which has been scheduled for hearing on April 1, 2026.