Housing, protocol violation issues rock GVMC council meeting in Visakhapatnam

Corporators from YSRCP and opposition parties trade charges

Issues related to housing scheme and alleged protocol violation rocked the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation(GVMC) council meeting here on Wednesday. Almost a two-hour discussion on these topics saw exchange of heated arguments, protests and tussle among the corporators of YSR Congress Party and opposition parties, including Telugu Desam Party (TDP), CPI(M), CPI and the Jana Sena Party.

Right at the start of the council meeting, the opposition parties demanded that Mayor G Hari Venkat Kumari organise question hour first instead of going ahead with the agenda.

Visakhapatnam (East) MLA V. Ramakrishna Babu from the Telugu Desam Party(TDP) and corporator G. Srinivasa Rao said that during 2018-19, around 43,000 people have paid ₹25,000 to ₹1 lakh in the form of D.Ds to the corporation for housing scheme. But after YSRCP formed the government, the GVMC has neglected the scheme and failed to provide houses to them.

Mr Ramakrishna Babu alleged that many poor people had paid the amounts by taking loans for which they are paying interest till date, but the government did not even bother to return their amount.

Jana Sena Party floor leader B. Vasantha Lakshmi complained that beneficiaries have been coming to the houses of corporators demanding either houses or refund of their deposits. She demanded that the corporation fix a date on return of the amount.

YSRCP floor leader B. Srinivasa Rao alleged that it was TDP that misled the poor in the name of houses with a political motto. When there was a possibility to provide houses for only 200 people, the TDP leaders had collected money from 2,000 people, which led to the problem, he said.

Some YSRCP corporators alleged that the TDP had tried to allot houses to many ineligible persons.