Recovery agents coerce Vambay beneficiaries

Hyderabad: It is heartening to know that the Telangana government is providing double bed room housing for the poor.

But the beneficiaries of the other housing schemes launched by the previous governments are being pressurised to clear the dues. The banks are using the services of recovery agents to collect the dues.

The beneficiaries of Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (Vambay) scheme are being fleeced by the recovery agents. Over 6,000 single bed room houses in four floor apartments at 15 colonies in Greater Hyderabad meant for Below Poverty Level (BPL) group were handed over to beneficiaries from 2008 onwards. The beneficiaries have been asked to pay Rs 80,000 to Rs 1.10 lakh as their contribution and the rest was raised from bank loans which they were to clear through monthly installments.

“A week ago, bank authorities came to my home and issued notices for not paying installment amount. They said it was difference of EMI that has not been paid,” said K Pullamma (50) of Devender Colony near Uppal.

Unable to comprehend what the bank officials were saying, Pullamma replied to them that she has been paying Rs 500 regularly. The bank officials told her that was the share the state government was to pay as its share.

Later some people from Reliance Assets Reconstruction Company went to her house and asked her to pay Rs 1 lakh principal amount in one installment. They even threatened to confiscate the property if the dues were not cleared. Other beneficiaries like Sulochana and Y Srinivas said that they too were told to clear the dues immediately to avoid confiscation.

“We were informed that the banks transferred the mortgaged assets to Reliance company as part of final settlement at Devendar Colony,” they rued. When asked, the housing board liaison officer Mallaiah said the government owed Rs 5 crore dues to the banks.

The then Congress government in 2008 issued GO No 42 and assured to pay its share of installment money every month to the banks. After the bifurcation of the State, the GO has been kept in abeyance and stopped releasing funds, said an official of Housing Board who oversees the Vambay scheme.

The issue had been brought to the notice of the government but no action was taken to resolve the issue for the last 19 months, the housing board official said. About 300 beneficiaries from colonies in Uppal, Vikarabad and Tandur received notices from the banks, he said.

Reliance company official Kumar Babu said that the company entered into an agreement with the SBH to recover the home loan dues. However, the bank, according to Kumar, did not inform them that the dues belong to public housing scheme launched by the government. The company, bank and housing board will soon hold a meeting to resolve the issue, he added.

By:Patan Afzal Babu