Panel to look into housing scheme scam

Hyderabad: Describing the Indiramma Housing Scheme a massive fraud, the Andhra Pradesh government has announced the constitution of a House committee to ‘unravel the fake beneficiaries and siphoning off funds’, which is, what it called, one of the biggest welfare scams in recent times.

The Opposition YSRC staged a walk out on the issue.

Finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, while announcing the formation of the panel, said it is necessary since thousands of poor people were affected as their names have been mentioned in the allotted lists, but the houses were being occupied by somebody else.

The Assembly witnessed uproarious scenes for nearly an hour with the ruling and Opposition members trading charges on the implementation of the scheme during late Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s regime. 

Housing minister Kimidi Mrinalini admitted that a lot of irregularities, swindling have taken place and much of the scam occurred in the last two-and-a-half years of Reddy’s rule.

Countering the government, Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy asked whether the present dispensation could construct or sanction even a single house in the last ten months of its rule. “Rajasekhar Reddy, during his tenure, sanctioned 48 lakh houses and 70 per cent of them were completed. He competed at the national level in providing shelter for the BPL families. 

Several ministers challenged the YSRC to come to any village and prove the success of Indiramma scheme. They also dared the Opposition to get ready for a probe by a House panel. At that point, Mr Jagan Reddy announced a walk out on the issue.

Mr Ramakrishnudu criticised the Opposition’s attitude. He said government has decided to constitute the committee despite the Opposition’s reluctance. Ninety percent of the work was over and the remaining ten percent will be completed in another 30 days.