Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Botcha Satyanarayana has asserted that the One-Time Settlement scheme is voluntary and there is no coercion to avail the scheme.
Speaking to reporters at the party’s central office on Monday, the Minister said that the OTS scheme is an unprecedented initiative and the main objective of the scheme is to benefit lakhs of poor people in the State by providing them legal rights on their properties.
He said the people can have full rights on their house just by paying a stipulated nominal amount of ₹10,000 in villages, ₹15,000 in municipalities and ₹ 20,000 in municipal corporations. He said the State government usually charges 7% as registration fee but is doing it for free under the OTS scheme.
The Minister also used the occasion to tear into TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu. “Mr. Naidu did not register the houses of the poor for free during his tenure. Now, he is making false promises that that he would give houses to the poor for free if the TDP comes back to power,” Mr. Satyanarayana said.
The Minister said that action was taken against the Santhabommali panchayat secretary who issued a circular on the implementation of the OTS scheme and said severe action would be taken against employees who indulge in such activities.
Flaying Mr. Naidu for his remarks on the ‘Spirit of the Constitution’ on the occasion of B.R. Ambedkar’s death anniversary, he said Mr. Naidu had issued a G.O for construction of a statue of Ambedkar at a height of 125 ft in 2016 only to divert public attention from the ‘call money’ racket in Vijayawada, and questioned why the statue was not completed in three years’ time.
