Not taken even an inch of Hyderabad University land, says Telangana govt

The government claimed that after winning the court case relating to the land, it protected the government land worth thousands of crores from falling into the hands of private persons and wants to use the same to provide employment to the youth by setting up IT companies.

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Industry and IT Minister D. Sridhar Babu and Revenue Minister P. Srinivasa Reddy addressed a joint press conference to put forth the government's stand amid intensified protests by student groups, environmental activists and the opposition party against the proposal to auction the land in Kancha Gachibowli.

The ministers slammed the opposition BRS and BJP for spreading lies about the land for political gains and cautioned that stringent action would be taken against those creating hurdles for government works and development.

The Deputy Chief Minister said the government took control of the land after the court delivered its judgment. He also gave the assurance that the government would protect the biodiversity on the HCU campus.

He recalled that the Chandrababu Naidu-led government in 1996 had taken this 400-acre land from the university and allotted it to a fraud company called IMG Bharatha. The government had allotted an alternate 397-acre land to the university. He claimed that the government has all the records pertaining to allotment of alternate land, and the same were signed by revenue officials and the university management.

Later, the Congress government headed by Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy cancelled the allotment made to IMG Bharatha, and the company approached the High Court, challenging the cancellation. Efforts were made to protect the government land.

Vikramarka alleged that after the formation of Telangana, the BRS government during its 10-year rule made no effort to reclaim the government. After the Congress party came to power, it decided to fight to reclaim the government land. "We fought in the court and won the case. We protected the public asset. Now the government is trying to use this asset to provide jobs to youth by bringing international IT companies," he said and claimed that it was because of their efforts that the land did not go into the hands of private persons.

The Deputy Chief Minister pointed out that many jobs were created with the development of HITEC City, HITEC City Phase II and Knowledge City and said their government plans to develop IT parks on similar lines to provide jobs.

Targeting BRS, Srinivas Reddy asked why it did not think of the environment while granting permission for the construction of high-rise buildings next to the university. Assuring that biodiversity on the campus will not be harmed, he appealed to students not to get misled by the false propaganda of the opposition parties.

He pointed out that out of 1,525 acres allotted to HCU, the government has not taken away even one inch of the land.