Health Minister Eatala Rajender rubbishes land-grabbing allegations

Hyderabad: Minister for Health Eatala Rajender strongly denied the allegations made against him by some people of Achampet mandal and demanded that along with the vigilance inquiry ordered by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, the government should also constitute another inquiry by a sitting judge to probe into his assets and how he had acquired them.

Addressing a press conference in an emotionally choked voice, Eatala Rajender said from a small-time hatchery business he had grown to the level of a person who could get Rs 100 crore loan from bank. He said the allegations that have been levelled against him was a well-planned conspiracy by some people to tarnish his image and malign his character.

He said in 2016, when he decided to set up one of the biggest hatchery units in Telangana, he purchased 40 acres of land at Rs 6 lakh per acre and had started the unit and named it as Jamuna Hatcheries.

He said later he purchased another 47 acres for the purpose of expansion by taking a loan of Rs 100 crore from a bank.

The Minister said that the hatchery was surrounded by assigned lands and hence he had applied to the industry department to acquire the assigned land and allot it to his hatchery. The department rejected his application. He said at this point he approached Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. When he presented his case, Narsing Rao, a highly-respected officer in the CMO told him that if the government has to acquire the land and give, it would take a lot of time but if the people under whose possession the land was agreed to surrender things would become easy. Eatala said not even an acre of land was under agriculture and he after negotiations with the people under whose possession the land succeeded in convincing some of them to surrender the land and about 25 acres was surrendered to the government.

Stating that he was a man who cares for self-respect and not positions, Rajender said that in undivided Andhra Pradesh in 2007, he had invested Rs 5 crore to buy a piece of land in Jubilee Hills to construct a house but as it got embroiled in legal complications he was still fighting it out but did not use his official position to get that land. That being the situation, he said there was no question of him threatening the BCs to part with assigned land.

He said he was ready for any inquiry by any agency and if they can prove that he had lured any one or threatened anyone he was ready for any action. He said he knows the history of all those who are behind this conspiracy but would not like to take any names at this point of time.