YSR admits to lapses in housing

YSR admits to lapses in housing

Says money will be recovered by invoking provisions of Revenue Recovery Act
HYDERABAD: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy has admitted to lapses in implementation of Indiramma housing programme for poor but rejected the demand of Opposition for an inquiry by a House Committee of the Assembly. All the Opposition parties, barring the Lok Satta, staged a walkout in protest against the refusal of the government to concede the demand. The Lok Satta also registered its protest but did not join the walkout.
Intervening in a debate on Indiramma housing during question hour, Dr. Reddy denied diversion of funds to the programme from the Centrally-sponsored Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) but said irregularities did take place in its implementation in connivance with lower level officials. The lapses did not occur at State-level but at the field-level. The government will recover money from the guilty by invoking provisions of Revenue Recovery Act besides initiating deterrent action against erring officers, beneficiaries and public representatives, he added.
He also said detection of lapses in housing programme would be a component in the State-wide integrated survey from Monday to weed out bogus ration cards.
Citing an example to show how irregularities in the programme took place, Dr. Reddy said a door-to-door survey in all villages of his home constituency of Pulivendula in Kadapa district showed that 8.2 per cent of total houses were cornered by ineligible persons. To get accurate results, officers from outside Kadapa were deployed in the survey. The misuse was brought to his notice by a Congress leader Mohan Reddy who complained that the houses sanctioned at Cherlopalli village of the constituency outnumbered voters. Dr. Reddy emphasised that irregularities were natural in a major programme as this and recalled an admission by Telugu Desam government on the floor of Assembly about misuse of Food For Work programme by 25 per cent