Minister pushes for industrial development, allocation of house sites at Uravakonda

Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav has asked the officials to inspect and identify areas suitable for setting up industries and also for the allocation of house sites in his Uravakonda constituency

Mr. Keshav, who reviewed the issues with the officials on Saturday, instructed them to identify suitable locations for industries, exercise utmost care regarding land acquisition for housing sites in Uravakonda, and ensure that land is acquired only through purchase.

Officials have already inspected four potential sites in Uravakonda constituency, including the areas between Chinna Musturu and Pedda Musturu, Chinna Musturu and Konapuram, Mopidi and Konapuram, and Pennahobilam. Of these, Pennahobilam site includes 400 acres of government land (distinct from Endowments land), and the demarcation of its boundaries has already been completed.

Though the other three sites belong to farmers, officials have inspected them as well. Mr. Keshav held a review meeting with the Revenue officials regarding the inspection of these lands and directed them to identify suitable locations for establishing the industries.

Mr. Keshav instructed the officials to exercise extreme caution regarding land acquisition for the allocation of house sites in Uravakonda. While lands in areas such as Chabala Road, Hoturu Road, and Budigavi Road were inspected for this purpose, the Minister emphasised the need for caution, keeping past scams in mind, during the acquisition process. He directed that lands be acquired exclusively through the Land Purchase Scheme (LPS), rather than the method of direct acquisition involving direct payment to farmers.

In another review meeting with the DRDA and other officials, Mr. Keshav asked them to focus on resolving long-standing land issues faced by SC beneficiaries. Land-related issues have persisted for 25 years for 1,000 SC beneficiaries in Uravakonda constituency, and Mr. Keshav wanted them resolved.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Keshav said nearly 25 years ago, during the tenure of the then-government, the Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP) and the SC Corporation jointly purchased and distributed lands to nearly 1,000 SC beneficiaries across Uravakonda constituency. At that time, the IKP had provided funds for these land purchases.

Under the stipulated terms, the beneficiaries were required to repay the amount, but they failed to do so. During a recent government land re-survey, the records for these lands in the ‘1B Adangal’ were reverted to the name of the IKP instead of remaining in the names of the beneficiary farmers.

During the meeting, the Minister addressed the injustice faced by the beneficiaries and the technical issues involved, directing the officials to take necessary measures to transfer the land titles back to the respective SC beneficiaries.