TDP move to hire foreign consultants invites opposition wrath

However, Tourism Minister G S S Shivaji justified the decision to hire foreign consultants on the ground that the basic aim of the Government was to attract the foreign tourists to the state. "There is no squandering of public money," he told the House.

He was replying to a question by Telugu Desam Party member Maheswara Rao and others.

The EDAW, a UK based firm, which submitted projects for the promotion of Hyderabad and Tirupati areas had been paid about Rs 1.15 crore, the WTO, an international organisation, which would be submitting its report on March 17 would be paid Rs 1.7 crore as fee, the minister explained.

Moreover, there was no link between the World Bank assistance to the state and the hiring of services of these firms, he clarified. After a prolonged debate over the issue, Shivaji finally agreed to place before the House the details of the projects submitted by the two firms after March 17.

K R Suresh Reddy (Congress) wondered why the government was depending on foreign firms for all and sundry things. "Can’t we manage our affairs without the involvement of external agencies to develop our local historical places and temples?" he asked the minister.

M A Gafoor (CPM) too lashed out at the Government for engaging the services of multi-national firms in the areas where they do not have any expertise and knowledge. "How can a foreign consultant suggest a plan for the promotion of a temple in our State?" he argued.

Congress leader P Janardhan Reddy and NTR-TDP member Lakshmi Parvati too shared the members anger and felt that the government owed an explanation to the people of the state for paying "huge sums of money" to the external agencies in the name of fees.

TANKS: Municipal Administration Minister Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy told the House that the government had prepared an ambitious plan to develop and protect about 166 tanks in the twin cities to improve the ground water table. "We have already started developing 25 tanks in the first phase," he said.

Answering a question by Janardhan Reddy, the minister said that the government initiated action following a survey of the national remote sensing agency in 1994, which recorded an 113 per cent increase in urban area and five per cent decrease in water bodies between 1973 and 1991.

Cutting across party lines, members voiced alarm over the trend and urged the government to contain the trend. However, Murty assured that there was a slight improvement in the last five years due to a host of measures. He also told them a master plan to protect the water bodies was underway.

DENIAL: Major Irrigation Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao denied that there were any irregularities in the payment of compensation to the lands acquired for the Lanka Sagar medium irrigation project in Khammam district. Moreover, he claimed that the government averted a major scam in the case.

Replying to a question by TDP member Y Sita Devi, the minister said that about 760 acres were proposed to be acquired by the irrigation department for the project and the owners of 90 acres approached the court for a higher compensation. The matter was still pending before the courts, he said.

MEETING: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu assured the House that he would soon convene a meeting in his chamber with the MLAs to discuss the illegal encroachment of about 500 acres of Wakf Board land in Attapur mandal of Ranga Reddy district.

He intervened during discussion over a question by CPI member Ch Vithal Reddy. Earlier, Wakfs Minister Khaleel Basha admitted that about 426 acres of Wakf Board land had been encroached upon some unauthorised persons. He said that steps would be initiated to evict them.