During the BRS government's ten-year rule, then Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) painted a rosy picture for journalists. He announced that there was no shortage of land in Hyderabad and Telangana and promised to provide house sites to all journalists. However, throughout his tenure, he failed to fulfil that promise. Even after the Supreme Court delivered an interim order, he did not even grant an appointment on the issue, which ultimately made the matter more complicated. Even before the formation of Telangana, during the undivided Andhra Pradesh when Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy was the Chief Minister, the Jawaharlal Nehru Housing Society had paid crores of rupees to the government. At that time, the government allotted 70 acres of land to the society in the Pet Basheerabad and Nizampet areas. However, the matter eventually reached the Supreme Court. Although the Supreme Court later provided interim relief, neither KCR nor K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) made any serious effort to honour the promise. Like KCR, then Minister KTR also maintained the same approach towards journalists.
For several decades, it has been customary for governments to allot house sites to journalists. Despite being in power for ten years, the BRS government neither honoured its promise nor handed over the land even after collecting money from beneficiaries. Yet now, KTR and former minister Harish Rao, who failed to resolve the issue during their tenure, are raising concerns over journalists' house sites and placing several demands before the Congress government. Before the Assembly elections, the Congress party had officially promised to implement the house-site scheme for journalists. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy also reiterated this promise on several occasions. After assuming office, his government issued a land allotment memo for the Pet Basheerabad land to the society in line with the interim relief granted by the Supreme Court. However, after the Supreme Court's final verdict went against the claim, the issue has remained unresolved despite the beneficiaries having paid for the land nearly 18 years ago. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has repeatedly stated that he is fully aware of the issue and assured journalists that he would fulfil the promise.
Following the Supreme Court's verdict, he announced that since the original land could not be allotted, the government would provide alternative plots in Future City if everyone agreed. In response to the Chief Minister's proposal, a majority of the Jawaharlal Nehru Housing Society members signed a resolution accepting land in Future City and submitted it to the government. Even then, there has been no progress on the issue, leading to growing concern among journalists. These developments have triggered discussions that Revanth Reddy, like KCR before him, appears to be playing with the sentiments of journalists. It is being said that responsibility for the Future City land allotment has been entrusted to a ministers' sub-committee. However, the ministers reportedly maintain that they cannot take any decision without receiving an official note or file from the Chief Minister or the Chief Minister's Office (CMO). Information and Public Relations Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy has repeatedly made announcements regarding the issue, but they have not translated into implementation.
If Revanth Reddy genuinely intends to do justice to the Jawaharlal Nehru Housing Society and all other journalists, he should make a clear announcement and implement it, critics argue. Instead, asking journalists to first get the matter cleared by the sub-committee and only then promising implementation has created the impression that the government is playing a double game. Questions are also being raised over whether the sub-committee is functioning on the Chief Minister's instructions or based on requests from journalists. While ministers on the sub-committee themselves reportedly say that the matter cannot move forward without official directions from the Chief Minister, Revanth Reddy is said to be conveying a different message to journalists and prolonging the issue. There are also allegations that over the past several days, the Chief Minister has not been giving media representatives time to discuss the matter, leading to criticism that he, too, is following KCR's path. If Revanth Reddy has no intention of allotting house sites, then, as per the Supreme Court's observations, the government could simply refund the money that journalists paid nearly 18 years ago. Instead, critics question why the issue continues to be prolonged in this manner.