Scribes' housing panel urges CM for speedy handing over of land in Pet Basheerabad

Hyderabad: The Jawaharlal Nehru Journalists Mutually Aided Cooperative Housing Society (JNJMACHS) on Saturday urged Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao to resolve their long-pending issue pertaining to house sites and direct the officials to hand over 38 acres in Pet Basheerabad, which is part of the 70 allotted to the society way back in 2008.

In an open letter to the Chief Minister, the society thanked him for handing over 32 acres in Nizampet. The society paid the market value of Rs 12.38 crore to the government in the undivided Andhra Pradesh but it was only after the bifurcation that Rao had taken a decision in favour of the society. Its members, comprising over 1,000 journalists, took pains to mobilise the money to pay the government for the land.

“Some members took loans at exorbitant interest rates while some others mortgaged even mangalsutras of their wives to mobilise money,” a  release from the society said. The society thanked the Chief Minister for the state’s timely submission of an affidavit in a Supreme Court case that helped the society to obtain a favourable order.

The apex court directed the government to hand over 38 acres to the society enabling it to develop a layout in 70 acres and allot plots to its members. It brought to the Chief Minister’s notice that more than 50 members had died and hundreds fell ill after Covid pandemic. Several lost their jobs and they continue to struggle, it said.