Karnataka Planning Commission Deputy Chairman B R Patil, a senior Congress MLA, has accused his own State government of widespread graft in allocation of houses under the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Scheme. In a leaked audio, Patil, talking to the PA of Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan, claimed that bribes have been taken for house allocation over his own recommendation letters. He alleged that 950 houses were allotted through bribery in his constituency alone.
In a call with Sarfaraz Khan, the Housing Minister’s PA, Patil was heard saying that the Housing Corporation gave preference to recommendations by Gram Panchayat president who allegedly gave bribes. “Whoever went to the housing corporation and paid money, got houses. Are you running a business?” Patil is heard saying. Khan denies all allegations of corruption, stating that anyone found guilty of accepting bribes would be jailed.
On the other hand, on Thursday, the state government said that the government was increasing quota for minorities in urban housing built by the Housing Department to 15 per cent from the earlier 10 per cent .
Speaking to reporters outside his residence, Deputy CM Shivakumar said, “The housing minister has only transferred the quota of minorities from rural areas to urban areas as the number of minorities is low in the rural areas. The quota is not being snatched from anyone to give it to minorities”. As per the report by Sachar Committee, the quota given to minorities in rural areas was not being utilised due to the low number of minorities, so it has been transferred to urban areas.
(with inputs from bl intern Divyatha Chilukuri)