Botsa Satyanarayana lambasts TDP over corruption in APTIDCO housing scheme

Visakhapatnam: Minister for Municipal Administration Botsa Satyanarayana lambasted opposition leaders over the large-scale corruption in TIDCO housings during the TDP regime and for obstructing the State government's initiatives.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, the minister criticized Chandrababu Naidu for failing to sanction houses meant for the poor during his term and said TDP leaders have looted huge amounts in the name of houses for the poor. The previous government had laid the foundation for only three lakh houses despite the Union Government sanctioning seven lakh houses. "Out of three lakh houses, 2,62,216 reached the basement level while only 81,040 houses came up to 90-95% works and in 71,488 houses only 20-40% works were done in the five-year term of TDP. Although a single house was not distributed to the poor, Naidu left a debt of Rs 3200 Crore to TIDCO contractor,." he said.

The previous government had fixed Rs 2000 per sft, for providing a house in 300 sq ft and charged over Rs 2.6 lakh from the poor. For houses in 345sqft and 430 sq ft, the beneficiaries have to pay Rs 3.25 lakh and Rs 4.65 lakh. Though the price per sqft is only at RS 1200, the TDP government charged over RS 2000 and pocketed all the money, without even clearing bills to the contractors or completing a single house, he added.

Seeing the plight of the poor, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has decided to give 30 lakh houses free of cost along with the TIDCO houses. By spending RS 600 crore, the state government had completed all those pending houses and geared up for distribution. However, TDP leaders approached the High Court and stalled the distribution of house pattas. Where are the six lakh houses that were constructed during the TDP government? He further stated that all the 30 lakh beneficiaries might go for protest in front of Naidu's house for obstructing the distribution of houses.

On Polavaram project, the Minister stated that it was Chandrababu who exploited the project for the sake of commissions from contractors, which ultimately led to a reduction of funds from the Union Government. Unlike Naidu, we are not interested in contracts or commission, we will convince the Center to complete the Polavaram. If necessary, we will also go to court for Polavaram funds, he stated.