Vizag to be seat of admin any moment, says Botsa

PNS|Vijayawada

Minister for Education Botsa Satyanarayana has said that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will begin administration from Visakhapatnam any moment but a few evil politicians are trying to stop the State government’s initiative. The Bhogapuram Airport case has been cleared and the work will start any time now. Apart from conveying the interests of the State to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the CM has made it clear that politics is not important but the development of the people is.

The Minister said that with a strong commitment to every poor family having their own house, the YSRC government, under the leadership of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, has taken up the housing programme so that even the poor can live with dignity. The Minister said that the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government has distributed 31 lakh house site pattas to the poor despite the State government being under financial crisis.

Addressing media persons at the party office in Tadepalli on Monday, the Minister said that the government pooled 71,811 acres of land across the State which includes government land. About 25,000 acres of land was purchased for the housing scheme by spending Rs 11,000 crore. So far, Rs 15,000 crore was spent on infrastructure facilities like land levelling, roads, electricity, water, and drainage lines in Jagananna colonies.

Botsa said JSP is a celebrity party, not a political party because a political party has a policy. On Sunday, JSP chief Pawan, accused of corruption to a tune of Rs 10,000 crore in the housing scheme. “The expenditure on Jagananna colonies so far was about Rs 15,000 crore. How did Rs 10,000 crore corruption take place? Do you have knowledge of what kind of development is happening in the State. You speak as you wish. People are not naive to listen to your words. People will flock around a comedian, not just Pawan,” the Minister said.

Botsa challenged Pawan to prove Rs 10,000 crore corruption. “Prove that corruption has taken place in Gunkalam layout of Vizianagaram district. Gunkalam layout is the second largest layout in the State,” he said.

During the reign of the late leader Dr. YSR, the then government gave houses to all the poor people. Now, after Jagan Mohan Reddy took the reins, the layout was done for 400 acres, prepared 12,000 house plots, and also gave house site pattas to 10,000 beneficiaries, the Minister said. He said, “As the Minister from that district and as the public representative of that district for a long time, I will bow my head if manipulation is proved. We are working with the determination to provide houses to the poor across the State. An amount of Rs 7,700 crore was spent to date for the construction of 21 lakh houses in two phases.

The Minister recalled that during the TDP regime when there were Janmabhoomi committees, corruption went unchecked but no one can find such a thing. He criticised Pawan for an alliance with BJP and an understanding with Chandrababu. “We oppose the privatisation of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. We told the same to the Prime Minister,” Botsa said.