HYDERABAD: Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Thursday alleged that opposition parties are attempting to disrupt and discredit every developmental initiative taken up by the government.
Participating in the “Meet Your Minister” programme at Gandhi Bhavan, he received petitions from the public and interacted with officials regarding several complaints. Later, addressing a press conference, he said that false propaganda was being spread about the Hyderabad Industrial Lands Transformation Policy (HILTP) and clarified that its primary objective is to make Hyderabad a pollution-free city.
Uttam asserted that there is “no scope for any scam” in the policy and that it has been formulated with complete transparency. He said both BJP and BRS leaders have failed to understand the policy and advised them to study it before making allegations. He pointed out that shifting polluting industries outside the ORR has been a long-standing demand aimed at reducing pollution in Hyderabad, and discussions in this regard were held even during the previous BRS regime.
Ridiculing the BRS’s claim that they would revoke the policy if they returned to power, he remarked, “They are not coming to power, and the policy will not be changed.” He also stated that he had played a role in drafting the industrial policy and emphasised that it would generate significant additional revenue for the state.
The minister further alleged that the opposition was opposing every initiative of the Congress government merely for political reasons. Responding to BRS’s allegation of a Rs 50,000 crore scam in power plant construction, he said that “not even a Rs 50,000 scam took place, let alone Rs 50,000 crore.”