Row over 2 BHK units allocation

Bhadrachalam: The allocation of double bedroom houses in Bhadrachalam town has become embroiled in a controversy, as revenue officials reportedly dismissed an initial list of beneficiaries and compiled a new list that excluded those who were previously selected.

In 2023, applications were received from aspirants. The Bhadrachalam Tahsildar and revenue personnel conducted various enquiries before preparing a final list of 150 qualified beneficiaries for house allotment, which was then presented to the district Collector.

However, due to political constraints, the dwellings were not distributed to the initially selected beneficiaries. House allotment had been delayed for one and a half years. Recently, officials apparently began a process of selecting new recipients and secretly handing away houses to them for political purposes.

Beneficiaries Punem Pradeep Kumar, B Malleshwar Rao, Pathuluri Kavitha, P Chamundeshwari, and Sunnam Manjula filed a writ suit in the High Court, challenging the officials’ decision to create a second list and delete the previous one.

The petitioners claimed that they were treated unfairly because the Bhadrachalam tahsildar proceedings, RC No. C/124/2023, dated 5-06-2023, were not implemented. Punem Pradeep stated that the case was scheduled for hearing before Justice CV Bhaskar Reddy’s bench on Monday.

The judge heard the arguments of both the petitioners and the government pleader and questioned how the beneficiaries could be selected anew without conducting gram sabha and not allocating the dwellings to the previously selected beneficiaries.

The judge stated that residences should be given to eligible beneficiaries through the gram sabha by the majority resolution under the requirements of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) PESA Act, 1996, and that work must be done in accordance with the law.