Govt to announce land allotment policy soon: CM

Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday informed the members of the Legislative Assembly that his government would come out with a new land allotment policy featuring transparency and rational assessment for the extent required for various industrial projects.

The chief minister has also agreed for the constitution of a House Committee on land allotments to specific projects.

Replying to a discussion on alleged irregularities involving allotment of lands to SEZs and other industrial parks in the house on Tuesday, the chief minister admitted that subsequent governments in the state had allotted lands to projects without following any transparent procedures. While explaining various possible reasons behind the delay in execution of projects, including the impact of recent global economic recession, the chief minister, however, said that his government would not hesitate to take back the lands allotted if the companies fail to honour their commitments.

The government is working on restoring the equity in Raheja IT park to eleven per cent besides negotiating with Emmar MGF regarding taking possession of over 200 acre land given out on a lease in the past.

Reddy also assured the members that he would call for a special meeting with members to review the allotment of Wakf lands to SEZs in and around Hyderabad.

The government pressed for the approval of the bill earlier in the day when the opposition parties led by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) demanded a discussion on land allotments made to private companies after the year 2004 before taking up the appropriation bill. The house adopted the bill with a voice vote amidst the opposition protests. Later the debate on land allotments has been taken up.

Salaries hiked
Salaries and allowances for members of the state Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and Legislative Council (MLCs) have been doubled. The state Assembly approved a bill introduced to this effect by the state government on Tuesday.

According to the revised package, an MLA gets Rs 90,000 per month- Rs 12,000 as salary and Rs 83,000 as constituency allowance- as compared to Rs 7,500 and Rs 35,000 respectively at present.

Apart from monitory hike, the government had also decided to give Rs 70,000 a year to each member towards travel expenses. Earlier the members used to get railway coupons worth 30,000 kms in a year.