KCR restores ENT Hospital premises

Here is some good news for both the authorities and patients who visit the ENT Hospital in Koti. The administrators can heave a sigh of relief because there will be no influence of ‘trespassers’ inside the premises. In a welcome move, which will effectively put an end to the fixations of vested political interests, the Telangana State government has ordered recovery of 3,831 square yards on the south-west side of the hospital that was under control of ‘encroachers’.

That the government means business becomes amply clear from the proposal to return the amounts touching a whopping of Rs 96,62,757 that was paid to private persons and resume the ‘allotted’ land from the ‘beneficiaries’. For the record, these lands were regularised in the names of A Venkatesh, A Ramesh and A Krishna by the then District Collector Navin Mittal in 2008. Not surprisingly, the issue has been embroiled in a long-drawn legal squabble.

According to M Srinivas, secretary, Greater Hyderabad Central City Committee of CPM, the private beneficiaries were followers of two city ministers in the undivided Andhra Pradesh’s Congress-led government. Ironically, while one minister pressurised the hospital authorities to not withdraw the case, his cabinet colleague never supported the cause of the agitating doctors, who raised a banner of revolt against the transfer of prime land to private persons.

Controversy erupted over encroachment of a large tract of land located behind the hospital authorities, which took an ugly turn with the sudden appearance of sheds for parking transport vehicles in a corner of the land. The dispute over land measuring 3,831 square yards on the south-west side of the hospital surfaced with some individuals claiming ownership. When the matter reached the City Civil Court in 1999, it was dismissed on two occasions on the grounds that the petitioners could not provide adequate evidence for their claims.

The petitioners then moved the High Court where the case was pending. Meanwhile, the individuals applied for transfer of rights on the basis of GO 166 dated February 16, 2008 (regularisation of government lands in possession of private properties). The government issued three GOs 627, 628 and 629 (dated June 24 2009) after the district-level committee approved the regularisation applications on payment of Rs 96,62,757. The issue of the orders was contested by the hospital authorities.

However, when the media alleged wrongful regularisation and blatant favoritism, the government put the orders in abeyance. In June 2010, the district collector of Hyderabad wrote to the revenue department requesting cancellation of the orders. In his communication, he stated that the land once belonged to Raja Pratap Gir whose deodhi later became the ENT hospital.

Among other things, the collector had mentioned that the town survey records showed the land as belonging to the hospital, and recommended cancellation of the government orders citing irregularities. Hospital authorities say that the claimants got an injunction from the High Court in 2010 through misrepresentation of facts, and based on the interim order. Now that the government has decided to restore the land to the hospital, it would help them for future expansion of facilities in the hospital, which come as music to the ‘ears.’