Yet another way for ruling MLAs to rake in the moolah
Realtors allege that it has become a norm to pay them Rs 2 lakh for an acre in a big layout in districts outside the CRDA's limits.
Vijayawada: Ruling party MLAs who are already facing allegations of earning large sums of money through sand mining, liquor shops and official transfers, are now raking in the moolah through real estate layouts and prominent constructions by demanding ‘MLA Vata’ (commission for an MLA).
Realtors allege that it has become a norm to pay them Rs 2 lakh for an acre in a big layout in districts outside the CRDA’s limits. This amount is twice or three times higher in the APCRDA region.
Officials from Revenue and Town Planning are directing realtors, builders and individuals to MLAs, and only after getting their consent permission for building is granted.
In West Godavari district recently, a realtor identified a 25-acre piece of land for development, and as part of accepted procedure, approached the Mandal Revenue Officer (MRO), who directed him to meet the local MLA.
Sand and liquor contractors are also expected to pay commissions to the local public representatives. If there is reluctance on their part or delay in the payments, this at-tracts punishment by the public representatives. This is the formula that ruling party MLAs are following across the state.
Andhra Pradesh Real Estate Developers Association (APREDA) secretary-general Gadde Tirupatirao said they had received complaints about this even earlier and had urged the government to make the system online to ensure a corruption-free environment that supported realtors. He pointed out that in some districts, the corruption began at the village sarpanch’s level and extended to the MLA, and therefore, it was high time that the government addressed the issue.
Meanwhile, MLAs and other public representatives were also involved in the transfer and posting of revenue officers and police across the state as also the awarding of contracts, all of which had become a major source of revenue for a ruling party MLA of the Palnadu area of Guntur district, rendering the local YSRC MLA quite helpless.
Similar incidents have been taking place for quite a long time across Assembly segments, where ruling party MLAs are very strong.
When this was brought to the notice of Telugu Desam state president Kala Venkatrao, his response was, “No such incident was reported by party cadres or by the public. If this is the case, the party will not tolerate such untoward happenings.” He said they were for corruption-free governance.