Hyderabad: Former minister T Harish Rao demanded the state govt to order an inquiry with a sitting high court judge into the 22A prohibited properties list and also release a white paper on the whole issues. He said the govt should immediately remove erroneous entries suo-moto in 22A without causing inconvenience to the people and take action against the responsible officers.Harish Rao on Tuesday met families affected by the Section 22A prohibited-properties issue at Shapur Nagar in Qutbullapur, and assured them that the BRS would stand firmly by them.Speaking at the meeting, Harish Rao said the Congress govt had created enormous confusion by placing genuine private properties, residential colonies and agricultural lands in the 22A prohibited list. He questioned revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy’s claim that 98% of the properties had already been removed from the list.“If 98% of the properties have been removed, why are hundreds of affected people still coming to us with their grievances? The state govt made the mistake. Why should ordinary people now run around govt offices and submit applications to correct it?,” the ex-minister asked.He said properties in decades-old colonies such as Padmarao Nagar Phase-I and Springfield, besides areas such as Nizampet, were reportedly being affected by the 22A restrictions. Harish Rao alleged that serious complaints were emerging about people being forced to approach intermediaries and pay money to get their properties cleared from the prohibited list.“These allegations are extremely serious. The state govt must find out who included these properties in the 22A list, who gave the instructions and who is removing them now. The entire process must be investigated with a sitting high court judge,” he said.He asked the govt to release a white paper giving complete details of properties added to and removed from the prohibited list, including the survey numbers, dates, reasons and authorities responsible, he said. Harish Rao said the Government should not force genuine property owners to submit applications and visit MRO, RDO and collector offices repeatedly.Referring to reports that even govt properties and public establishments had appeared in the prohibited list, Harish Rao questioned the credibility of the entire exercise.“If the state govt itself cannot properly identify its own properties, how can ordinary citizens be expected to trust this system?” he asked. Harish Rao further questioned why the CM had failed to act despite concerns reportedly being raised earlier regarding large-scale inclusion of lands in the 22A list, including in Yadadri district.The BRS deputy leader said the BRS would take up the issue strongly in the assembly from September 7 and fight for the affected families.ends/
