Surprising as it might sound, the Telangana government headed by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has rewarded two prominent upper castes – Velamas and Kammas – with prime land worth Rs 870 crore in the upscale Madhapur area in Cyberabad.
A GO to this effect was issued secretly on June 30, according to the reports in a section of media.
The two communities do not constitute even one per cent of the total population of the state.
According to the government order, Kammavari Seva Sangha Samakhya was allotted five acres of land and All India Velama Association was given another five acres of land at Survey Nos.
41/44 at Khanamet near Hitec City.
The government ordered that Ranga Reddy district collector give in possession of the lands to the respective associations for the construction of Kamma and Velama community halls and other purposes.
The land allotted to Kammas is located between Hitec City and Ayyappa Society, while Velamas were allotted land at NAC Road closer to Novotel Hotel.
According to the reports, this is the costliest area in Hyderabad at present and the market value of the land is around Rs 1.80 lakh per square yard.
It would mean, an acre of land costs Rs 87 crore and so, the total value of the land allotted to the two associations is around Rs 870 crore.
Interestingly, two other major upper caste groups – Brahmins and Reddys have also been allotted lands, but on the city outskirts.
While Brahmin association was allotted land at Gopanpally, Reddy association got the land at Budwel in Rajendranagar, though they, too, are prime and costly lands.
It was obvious that KCR has favoured Velamas by allotting costly land because he hails from the same community.
On the other hand, he wants to pamper Kammas, who are in big numbers in Hyderabad city, who play a major role in deciding the fate of the TRS in the elections.
It was said to be part of the agreement entered between the TRS and Kamma association before the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and the TRS won good number of seats in the Kamma-dominated areas.
The KCR government has allocated 82 acres of lands to Backward Classes groups, too, before 2018 elections, to the extent of 10 guntas to five acres each depending on their strength.
But most of these lands are located at far off places like Outer Ring Road, Uppal, Medipalli, Peerjadiguda and Kokapet.
Some of these lands are on hills and some others are deep inside from the main road. The government has not spent even a single rupee on the development of these lands, leave alone construction of “Atma Gourava Bhavans” (Self-respect buildings).
It was estimated that the construction of these buildings required Rs 90 crore, but so far, only Rs 10 crore was allotted, but even that amount has not been released.