VIJAYAWADA: Housing Minister Jogi Ramesh on Sunday dared Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan for a debate on each and every aspect that the latter had mentioned in his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Pawan Kalyan dashed off a letter to Modi seeking a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the Housing Department in the State. “The allegations levelled by Pawan Kalyan are baseless,” he asserted.
Speaking to the media on Sunday, Ramesh said, “Pawan Kalyan is levelling serious allegations on the housing scheme meant for the poor. Did he ever rise his voice against former Chief Minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who failed to deliver his promise of giving three cents of land to the poor?’’
Ramesh claimed that the construction of houses for the poor is going on in a transparent manner in the State. “We are constructing more than 17,000 Jagananna Colonies and 21 lakh houses and the works are going on at a brisk pace,” he said.
About 30.65 lakh poor women have been given house sites till now and construction of more than 21.75 lakh houses has been taken up in the State.
All the payments are being made online and there is no scope for corruption. “We are not giving money for the construction of houses. We are making online payment for everything. It is foolish on the part of Pawan Kalyan to level allegations of corruption against the government,’’ he pointed out.
The Housing Minister said Pawan Kalyan should have written about Polavaram and other issues concerning the State if he is really committed to development. “The JSP chief should have at least written to the Prime Minister seeking more funds for taking up construction of houses for the poor in the State,” he said.
The JSP supported the TDP-BJP combine in the 2014 elections. “Though Naidu did not fulfil the promise of allotting three cents of land to the poor, Pawan Kalyan had never uttered a word against the former Chief Minister. The actor-politician did not even question Naidu on going back on his election promises,’’ he said.
Ramesh took a dig at Naidu for promising an airport at Kuppam. “Naidu, who was the CM for 14 years, could not provide even drinking water to the people of his home segment. “Now, he is promising an airport and an international market for agriculture and horticulture produce for farmers of Kuppam,’’ Ramesh ridiculed.