Telangana: Govt To Build Houses For Urban Poor

Hyderabad:Revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy on Friday said that the state government had relaxed norms under the Indiramma housing scheme for Hyderabad and would build houses in 16 identified slums within the GHMC limits and hand them over to slum dwellers, even if they do not own the land

The initiative will soon be extended to other core urban areas including Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Warangal, Karimnagar, Khammam and Mahbubnagar, Srinivas Reddy told mediapersons on Friday. He said that the government had recognised that the earlier eligibility criteria of requiring beneficiaries to own land was proving a major hurdle in implementing the scheme in cities where most of the homeless poor do not own land.

Under the ongoing first phase, the government has been providing Rs 5 lakh financial assistance to individuals with their own plots to construct houses in rural areas. After reviewing ground realities, the Congress government has decided to build Indiramma houses directly in Hyderabad and other urban areas.

Srinivas Reddy criticised the previous BRS government for building high-rise 2BHK flats on the city outskirts in locations like Kollur, which were not suitable for urban poor dependent on city-based livelihoods. “They handed over allotment letters to 19,000 beneficiaries just before Assembly polls, but only 13,000 are living in those flats. Many are unable to commute 30 kilometres daily from the outskirts, and thus avoid shifting,” he said.

To address this, the Congress government has decided to construct G+3 and G+4 flats within existing slums, with the cooperation of beneficiaries who have agreed to vacate and hand over their current dwellings. Construction will begin in 10 of the identified 16 slums in the first phase.

Srinivas Reddy highlighted the success of the recently launched Bhu Bharati Act and portal, introduced on April 14. The portal and Act have received a strong response statewide, particularly in villages and mandals, where land issues are being addressed locally without the need for people to travel to district headquarters or the CCLA office in Hyderabad. “People are saying that Bhu Bharati has brought the revenue department to their doorstep,” he noted.

The government will also hold “Revenue Sadassulu” from June 3 to June 20 in every revenue village. During these events, officials will conduct gram sabhas, accept applications and resolve land-related grievances on the spot at no cost. All pending issues from the Dharani system era, including Sadabainama cases, will be addressed. The minister revealed that the government is working to get the High Court’s stay on regularisation of Sadabainamas vacated soon.

Srinivas Reddy added that a forensic audit of Dharani records will be conducted shortly to identify instances where BRS leaders allegedly misused the system to grab assigned and government lands. “We will recover all such lands and return them to the original poor beneficiaries,” he declared, promising strict action based on the audit findings.

Srinivas Reddy dismissed BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao's repeated allegations that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had raided his (the minister’s) home and unearthed large sums of money but did not initiate any action due to his 'secret ties' with the BJP.

Srinvas Reddy clarified: “There was no ED raid on me or my house. The ED conducted raids at the residence where my daughter lives. Still, I won’t claim I have no connection to it, but the facts are being twisted beyond recognition.”

He said that Rama Rao should take it up directly with the ED or “with his friends in Delhi.” Srinivas Reddy pointed out that it was Rama Rao’s sister Kavitha who had openly admitted to the secret ties between the BRS and the BJP. “Perhaps it’s better he asks his BJP friends in Delhi about any ED cases on me,” Srinivas Reddy said.

The minister accused Rama Rao of resorting to baseless rhetoric, saying that constantly repeating phrases like “bundles and bundles of cash were found, counting machines were found” was nothing but spreading misinformation and "talking nonsense".