Ponguleti walks out of press meet over questions on house sites for evicted Velugumatla families

Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy walked out of a press conference in Khammam after failing to give clear answers on rehabilitation of families evicted from Velugumatla. He accused opposition parties of instigating protests and promised action against false claims

Khammam: Unable to provide a clear answer on whether families evicted from Velugumatla would be given house sites at the same location, Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy walked out of a press conference midway, accusing opposition parties of instigating the affected families to abuse ministers and the Chief Minister.

The Minister, who appeared before the media along with a few of the affected families here on Sunday, initially claimed that the State government would provide house sites and Rs 5 lakh under the Indiramma housing scheme to the “genuinely poor” families by March 15. However, when the media sought clarity on the location where they would be rehabilitated or whether the affected families would be given house sites at the same place, the Minister had no clear response. Fumbling for an answer, he said a suitable site would be identified within a couple of days, but lost his cool when asked why restrictions were imposed on the media during the demolition of the houses. Visibly irritated, he left the press conference abruptly along with District Collector Anudeep Durishetty and Commissioner of Police Sunil Dutt.

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Earlier, the Minister said a detailed survey of 720 families who had houses at Velugumatla was carried out. Some of them were government employees, while some had already received Indiramma houses. Some belonged to Khammam and surrounding villages, while others were from different parts of the State, he said.

Srinivas Reddy also alleged that leaders of certain organisations had collected huge amounts of money from families, promising to provide house sites. He said steps would be taken to recover the money and return it to the families concerned. He further alleged that opposition parties were making false claims and instigating families to abuse district ministers and the Chief Minister. No minister was holding any land at Velugumatla, he said, while accusing the media of distorting his remarks on the issue.