Govt will use Agri Gold sites for houses to poor: YSRCP MLC

Vijayawada: The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government was planning to use Agri Gold sites for housing for poor schemes, said MLC and party state general secretary Lella Appi Reddy.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Appi Reddy said the government would pay money as per the market value to take over Agri Gold land for the housing schemes and construct houses for the poor under TIDCO and other housing schemes.

He deplored that Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president and Opposition leader N. Chandrababu Naidu, despite being in power for five years, never tried to help depositors of Agri Gold but Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was paying back the deposits. He recalled that Agri Gold, Charminar Bank, Krushi bank and several other financial frauds and scams took place during Chandrababu Naidu’s government but he never tried to pay back the amount to people. Refuting allegations of the TDP leaders, Appi Reddy said that Jagan Mohan Reddy was a ‘man of his words’ and hence he was fulfilling the promises given to people about paying back Agri Gold money to depositors during his Padayatra.

The MLC said the Agri Gold victims’ relief committee held a meeting at the party office, as the state government would be crediting money to the accounts of Agri Gold victims who deposited below Rs 20,000 on August 24. In this regard, he said the state government had given relief to all those who deposited up to Rs 10,000 by providing Rs 240 crore soon after forming the government and as promised during the elections, victims who deposited up to Rs 20,000 would also be compensated at a cost of Rs 511 crore.

Appi Reddy said the state government was committed to its promise made to the Agri Gold victims and sanctioned funds to re-appropriate the due amounts, unlike the previous TDP government, which left the victims in dire state. He said the company was established during the TDP regime in 1995 and the scam also came to light during Chandrababu Naidu’s rule. He pointed out that although the firm was carrying out its operations without permission from the RBI, the then government paid no attention to its irregularities, which eventually turned out to be a huge scam having 32 lakh victims spread across various states, with Andhra Pradesh alone having 19.52 lakh depositors.

The MLC alleged that Chandrababu Naidu government had looted the state for five years and even denied to pay back for those small and petty depositors of about 13.83 lakh who deposited less than Rs 20,000, which amounts to Rs 1,150 crore. He claimed the state government had stood by the Agri Gold victims and provided them succour by fulfilling promises made to Agri Gold depositors during elections.

 Appi Reddy said Jagan Mohan Reddy had released the welfare calendar in February 2021 itself and clearly assured to compensate Agri Gold victims in August, but the Opposition leaders were trying to create panic among the victims with false propaganda. He said there was no need to panic, as the Chief Minister would compensate all those victims that deposited up to Rs 20,000 on August 24.