Kishan Reddy Alleges Irregularities Under Bhoo Bharati, PMGKAY Schemes; Demands Judicial Probe

HYDERABAD: Union minister G. Kishan Reddy on Saturday on Saturday accused the Congress-led government of presiding over a “land grabbing and settlement scam” under the Bhoo Bharati initiative and removing the Central government’s logo from the PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) ration cards.

Addressing a press conference at the party office here, Kishan Reddy demanded a comprehensive judicial inquiry by a High Court judge into the inclusion and deletion of land in the prohibited list under Section 22A, and announced that the BJP legal cell would provide free legal aid to affected farmers and residents to approach the High Court.

Kishan Reddy alleged that nearly four lakh acres of private land across Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medchal districts were overnight brought under the Section 22A list, which was meant only for government and endowment land — to allegedly extract 50 per cent settlement shares and hefty bribes from citizens and builders. “The situation is so grave that the High Court recently remarked that the Army may have to be deployed to protect people’s properties,” he said.

On the PMGKAY scheme, the minister questioned the state government for removing the Centre’s logo and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name from ration cards, while all other states were printing them. He noted that the Centre bore over 70 per cent of the subsidy, procurement, transport and dealer commissions for the scheme, which provides 5 kg of free rice per beneficiary. “If the Centre’s share is there, why is its logo missing? If this continues, the Centre will explore alternative distribution mechanisms,” he warned.

Kishan Reddy also demanded immediate release of around ₹15,000 crore in pending fee reimbursement dues to private colleges, stating that non-payment had led to engineering college closures and students being denied certificates, blocking their higher education and job opportunities. He also asked where the Congress manifesto promises of ₹5 lakh “Vidya Bharosa Cards” and scooters for girl students had gone.

On the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of voter list by the Election Commission of India, Kishan Reddy said it was a constitutional process to eliminate duplicate and deceased voters. He accused Chief Minister Revanth Reddy of frightening citizens by falsely linking rural voter registration to ration cards, land, pensions and properties, leading to a drop of 9.35 lakh voters in Secunderabad alone. “When state officials and BLOs carry out the process, blaming the Centre is ridiculous,” he said.

Marking the death anniversary of ‘Imroz’ editor Shoaibullah Khan — who was killed by Razakars in 1948 for advocating the Tricolour and Dr Ambedkar’s Constitution — Kishan Reddy announced that the Centre would officially conduct ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’, Hyderabad Mukti Divas, on September 17 at the Secunderabad Parade Ground. The event would feature paramilitary parades and cultural performances by Telangana artists. He criticised both past BRS and current Congress governments for not observing the day officially due to “fear of the Majlis party and vote-bank politics”, while Maharashtra and Karnataka have celebrated it for decades.

On the controversy over the ministry of external affairs denial of permission to Revanth Reddy to visit the US, Kishan Reddy said the protocols applied uniformly to all Chief Ministers and ministers, and there was no political vendetta.