- Is CM aware of the corruption in other departments?
- Ruling party MLAs involved in mining of natural sources
- Thousands of acres of forest land are in the hands of some legislators
The revelation by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao (KCR) on the dishonest collection from the beneficiaries of Dalit Bandu (DB) by many of the ruling party MLAs is a puzzle. The Chief Minister has accepted that some of his party legislators are collecting amounts from the DB beneficiaries for selecting their names. According to one estimate, sixty percent of the BRS MLAs had allegedly collected kickbacks from the DB beneficiaries. KCR did not mention about the irregularities allegedly being resorted to in their respective constituencies.
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Not only DB kickbacks but also other illegal activities of the legislators show the ruling party in a poor light. Why CM mentioned about the DB kickbacks is a million dollar question. The corruption in DB cases is nothing compared to the big ticket corruption by some leaders who enjoy his patronage. Among the officials it is easy to count the honest officers rather than the dishonest. The station house officers, assistant deputy superintendents of police, Mandal Tehsildars, Municipal Commissioners and others in plum posts were appointed in the respective assembly segments on the recommendations of ruling party MLAs.
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Firstly, it is matter of great surprise and shock that the police officers are not filing FIRs in ten assembly segments without the nod of ministers and BRS legislators. The cases, which would not affect the interests of the ruling party or the particular MLA are being filed and other cases are routinely kept aside by saying investigation is going on. The station house officers are allegedly being used to solve the private settlements in the towns. There are many occasions that the people are approaching MLAs or ministers to get their complaints registered in the police stations.
Secondly, about fifteen MLAs in agency areas possess hundreds of acres of forest lands in the guise of Adivasis. Encroachment of government lands is common and nobody dared to question about it. No real estate venture will be sanctioned licenses without the consent of the ruling party MLA. The town planning officers and Tehsildars go by the legislators’ wish.
Thirdly, the collections from the liquor license holders prevalent in many of the assembly segments. With this, the belt shops are spreading like mushrooms in every mandal. No belt shop is selling the liquor at MRP. There are instances in border mandals of Andhra Pradesh that the belt-shop organisers are earning more than the liquor license holders.
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Fourthly, it is alleged that the illegal sand and soil mining is rampant in every segment and there is no bar on the ruling party MLAs. The sand in Godavari river is being exploited without any restrictions.
Chief Minister KCR, who ignored all the issues, raised only the corruption in DB. The above issues are being discussed among all sections of people. A survey, conducted by a scribe on these issues, used to be a topic of discussion during leisure periods among the teachers in the staff rooms of educational institutions in Hyderabad, found that the corruption in Telangana is a major issue. Majority of the teachers came to conclusion that the corruption reached its peak in Telangana. It is high time KCR checked the corruption not only in DB but also in other departments if he has to score a hat-trick by winning for the third time in 2023 elections. (eom)
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