Activists in Telangana allege that there were serious irregularities concerning at least 50 acres of prime land allotted to the Telangana Non-Gazetted Officers (TNGO) Association in Hyderabad’s Manikonda area.
In a letter to Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, the Forum for Good Governance (FGG) alleged that the land, which was meant only for certain government employees, was illegally allotted to ineligible employees and ‘outsiders’. They sought a probe by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the matter.
“The TNGO Cooperative Housing Society took physical possession of the land on October 22, 2003. The Society is supposed to submit proposals for alienation of the land in its favour and approach the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA, now HMDA), for approval of layout. Instead, they divided the 50 acres of land into 622 plots and started allotting them without any title deeds or approval,” the FGG said.
“The Society allotted house plots to many ineligible employees illegally, ignoring the statutory rules prescribed and allotted plots to police officers, doctors and many outsiders, and in the process large amounts changed hands,” it added.
The activists allege that office bearers encroached upon lands meant for purposes like community halls and schools by giving numbers to such plots and allotting them.
When genuine members who were left out filed complaints against the office bearers and the president of the Society, the state government ordered an enquiry by the District Collector. However, the FGG said that the accused did not cooperate with the investigation and refused to provide details. When the government superseded the Society, it approached the court and got a stay order, activists said.
“Out of 622 plots, houses have been built in 85 plots. In 350 plots, construction is at various stages and 187 plots are vacant. 16 house plots were allotted in the name of two persons while eight plots were allotted to one ‘interested’ person. About Rs 18.5 crore was collected in the name of land development, but most of it is misappropriated,” the FGG said.
In January 2019, the Ranga Reddy District Collector submitted a detailed report on the matter, requesting the government to cancel the allotment of plots to ineligible persons and entrust the case to ACB or CBI.
“We have reason to believe that some senior officials in the Secretariat also got plots as no action has been taken on the Collector’s report. When we asked for information regarding the action taken and present stage of the case, officials refused to give any information,” the FGG stated, asking the Governor to intervene in the matter.