By: Soonya
I tried to figure out why such vehemence about Hyderabad being under either direct control of Seemandhra rulers or by proxy under the control of central authority.
To me it seems like a no-brainer. Hyderabad for many Seemandhra rulers and their hangers on including some or Telangana’s chota mota leaders, means real estate. Not love of the city or its culture.
Real estate does not need any qualification or major competencies to run as a business. You buy cheap and sell high.
The ‘Icon’ of Telugu Jaathi, NTR paved the way for the loot in a way. His much-touted progressive reform of abolishing the Patel, Patwari system created a vacuum in the knowledge about lands. Incidentally most of the records were either in Farsi or Urdu. The new class of officials had no clue to the old records with neither tacit knowledge or access to written documents, leading to manipulating records.
During CBN regime the real-estate ‘dandha’ started in ‘scale’ and peaked during YSR regime.
The new found ‘manna’ from heaven, real-estate in Hyderabad showed the way to factionists and violent gangs from Rayalaseema who found it was easy to make easy money by making ‘settlements’ in real-estate disputes compared to the bloody wars with bombs in Rayalaseema for some mythical and small time spoils.
Not to be outdone by our Seema gangs and gangsters, our own asli Hyderabadi Hem-Eye-Hem honchos also joined the loot we are given to understand. Now you know why so much and sudden love between Rayala and Telangana?
Our own chota mota, till-yesterday-galli-leaders like Dwaaram and his Hyderabad brother Gout also joined the fray. Those who were going in second-hand open jeeps with mikes are today travelling in Audi Q sixes and sevens!
The modus operandi
1. You gather ‘inside’ information where projects come and buy land from ignorant farmers. In other businesses you do such a think you will be liable for criminal intent and would be jailed for ‘insider trading’. The illustrious Rajat Gupta’s case is an illustration.
2. If your father or relative is the CM you procure land where it is cheap and get the government ‘leak’ information that a BIG ‘Project’ is going to come up there and palm it off to NRI’s, middle-classes who hope that the land appreciates and who consider it as an investment.
3. If your father or relative is the CM or some important politico in government, you threaten the middleclass fellows who bought plots as investment and make them sell at below market prices and later sell at higher prices and make money.
4. You ‘manage’ documentation since you have access to government and convert land illegally – I tried to gather the types of lands in Hyderabad below for understanding.
I attempted to understand the nature of lands around Hyderabad, from whatever I could understand I try to present here.
Shikam – foreshores of a lake, most land around Hussainsagar has gone into the hands of the SA land mafia. That’s why we get inundated roads with a 3-centimeter rain! Even the CM’s camp office road is not spared!
Inam lands, given as gift by Nizam – one can enjoy the land and the revenue over it but cannot be sold.
Bhoodan lands – lands donated by the rich landlords during the Bhoodan movement started by Vinoba Bhave.
Wakf lands – lands donated to Wakf whose revenues are meant for the good of poor Muslims or public good and the maintenance of the priests and other caretakers of Wakf properties.
Gurukul lands – Gurukul Trust, which was looking, after orphans and was engaged in charitable activities were given huge lands in and around Hyderabad. It is believed most of Madhapur lands belong to Gurukul Trust! There is a rumour the last living trustee of Gurukul lands went missing mysteriously and police could recover only his dead body.
Government lands – Atraf Balda or lands beyond the municipality (balda), which belonged to the Nizam, were transferred to the Hyderabad State. Also it is said that the forest department owns/owned significant lands around Hyderabad.
Land-ceiling surplus lands taken over by government
During the progressive regime of Burgula Ramakrishna Rao land reforms were attempted and the poor tenants were given rights over the land and were given an option to pay one year’s land tax either one time or in installments to own the land they were tilling. It is said that many land sharks utilized the innocence or ignorance of these small farmers in acquiring their lands since many tenants did not regularize their land ownership.
It is believed that some hundred odd families, who each own some thousands of acres of land banks, have acquired or are in control of about 700000 acres of land. There are some thousand other families who own 10-100 acres each.
Since the nature of acquisition is illegitimate or illegal, there is a fear among the ‘rich and powerful’ that post-Telangana there could be repossession of these lands by the new state government.
Hence the ‘kirikiri’ for Hyderabad as UT or under central control where they have lobbies and can ‘manage’. That is the meaning of ‘samanyayam’ or ‘equal justice’!
Ironically, it does not sound illogical to the agitating people in Seemandhra that these leaders seem to be OK for a de-merger as long as their ‘real interests’ are protected. And the artificial and imaginary fears being created in the minds of Seemandhra middle classes and educated classes is really to protect the plutocrats’ realty and realty interests.
It is known all the national and international institutes have no local quota; any one can access them as long as they fit the criteria.
The national and multinational corporations do not care for where one comes from as long as they meet their requirements.
All private tertiary care hospitals do not care where the patient comes from as long as he/she can pay their charges
In all government educational institutions there is a 85% reservation to locals which is there in Andhra too! So there is Samanyayam!
All government hospitals do provide free service and do not care where the patient comes from! Samanyayam too!
Only new jobs in government in Telangana will be reserved for locals. Even now there is a zonal system! So no big deal, there is Samanyayam here also!
Ordinary folks can build homes, buy apartments, do business in Telangana as before like in any other city of India.
In conclusion the corrupt Seemandhra politicians and rich and the Seemandhra media whose owners have significant ‘realty interests’ are the ones who are stoking irrational and imaginary fears in the minds of middle-classes of Seemandhra. It is sad that the middle-classes are falling for the cynical designs of the rich and powerful from their region, rather than holding them to account for delivering better governance for the ordinary folks of Seemandhra.
It is also sad to see that the intelligentsia of Seemandhra has miserably failed in explaining to the ordinary people the truth and the true state of affairs.