Telangana Congress Unit President Revanth Reddy on Thursday alleged corruption in the construction of the Telangana Martyrs Memorial by the state government, claiming that the expenditure was increased from Rs 63 crore to Rs 179.05 crore without reason.He also asked why it took the government nine years to get it constructed.
Revanth Reddy claimed that the contractor was a close associate of a friend of minister K.T.Rama Rao.
“The contract to erect the memorial was given to a company named KPC Projects Limited, whose office is registered in Proddatur of Kadapa district in AP.How can this project be given to outsiders?” he asked.
Delving on the strength of the structure, he said, “The steel is of 4 mm thickness, lessened from the initial design of using 10 mm thick steel.The structure is already having convulsions and will have more of them, when exposed to the elements over a period of time.”
“How can experts who were hired by paying six per cent of the contract, which amounts to some Rs 11 crore, not come up with a correct expenditure for the memorial as it was increased by three times.This also creates doubts on the competency of the company.
The KPC projects erected the Ambedkar statue also, for which, again, the costs were increased.The cost of the Secretariat, which was estimated at Rs 400 crore, was jacked up to Rs 1,600 crore.”
He said that the Congress, after winning the elections, would initiate an inquiry by the Vigilance and ACB teams into the construction.
Revanth Reddy also rapped the BRS for allegedly failing to recognise all martyrs.
“The Chief Minister had, in the first Assembly session of Telangana, proposed a resolution paying tribute to 1,569 martyrs.Of them, 369 had ended their lives in the 1969 agitation.
Of the remaining 1,200, the state government has so far extended help only to 528 families among the 650 who were recognised.How can roads and buildings minister V.Prasanth Reddy say they don’t have the addresses of the martyrs’ families? The newspaper, which is his party’s mouthpiece, had carried details of those families when they ended their lives,” Revanth said.
