Hyderabad: Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka said the opposition BRS walked out of the Assembly without listening to a discussion on welfare for the poor and showed no intent to hear the budget reply.
He made the remarks during Question Hour in the Assembly on Wednesday while speaking in detail on the Indiramma housing scheme. He also attacked the previous BRS government and defended the Congress government’s housing allocations.
Bhatti said BRS members tore copies of the budget and left the House. Therefore, he said, they had no moral right to question allocations made for poor families.
He alleged that the previous government had secured votes by promising double-bedroom houses but failed to build even one house for the poor during its ten-year rule. As a result, he said, poor families were abandoned after being misled by false assurances.
Bhatti recalled that former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy had launched the original housing programme in the united Andhra Pradesh. He said that effort was meant to give dignity to the poor. Moreover, he said the present government was carrying forward the same spirit with strong budget support.
Indiramma housing scheme allocation defended in Assembly
Bhatti said the opposition was spreading false propaganda that housing funds had been cut. However, he said the government had earmarked Rs 22,500 crore to build 4.5 lakh houses across Telangana.
He said the plan provided for 3,500 houses in each constituency. According to him, the opposition did not want poor families to build houses and live with dignity.
Bhatti said Housing Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy was holding continuous reviews on the progress of the Indiramma housing scheme. In addition, he said the government had issued strict orders to ensure weekly bill payments.
He contrasted that system with the previous practice, under which beneficiaries had to wait for months to receive payments. Now, he said, the government was backing beneficiaries with a clear message: build the house and get the bill paid.
He said the government had not stepped back from supporting the poor despite financial constraints. Yet he stressed that construction had to move faster at the field level.
Indiramma housing scheme progress needs faster execution
Bhatti said funds for the Indiramma housing scheme were available. Even so, he said actual construction needed to speed up on the ground.
He noted that bill payments made so far to beneficiaries had not crossed Rs 5,000 crore. That, he said, showed that the main challenge was execution and not the availability of funds.
Bhatti then urged all MLAs to concentrate on accelerating construction work in their constituencies. He said quicker progress would lead to quicker release of funds.
His remarks turned the debate into a direct political attack on the BRS. At the same time, they were meant to reassure beneficiaries that budget support for housing remained in place.
The Deputy Chief Minister used the discussion to project the government’s welfare commitment and to counter opposition criticism on spending. He also sought to put responsibility on legislators to ensure that sanctioned houses moved faster from approval to construction.
In the House, Bhatti’s central argument was that the government had already made the money available and that implementation must now catch up. Therefore, he said, the focus should remain on building houses for the poor instead of spreading claims about reduced support.