Under fire from within, Karnataka minister denies housing scam charges
The controversy erupted after senior Congress legislator BR Patil alleged that money had exchanged hands in house allocations
Facing criticism from within the ruling party, Karnataka Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan on Tuesday (June 24) denied allegations of corruption in his department related to the allocation of houses for the poor. “If it is proven that I took money for distributing houses, I am willing to resign voluntarily,” he stated.
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Addressing a press conference, Zameer Ahmed stated, “I have never faced such poverty that I would resort to collecting money for houses meant for the underprivileged. Taking money for homes allotted to the poor is an unpardonable crime, and there is absolutely no room for such practices in our department.”
Cong MLA's charges
The controversy erupted after senior Congress legislator BR Patil alleged that money had exchanged hands in house allocations. However, Zameer Ahmed clarified that Patil did not name any minister or official in his allegations.
He further stated, “If anyone in the panchayat has accepted money, the details should be brought to light. An investigation will be initiated, and strict action will be taken against those found guilty. I will also speak directly with the MLA regarding the matter.”
He mentioned that he had informed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah about the issue. “I was on tour, which is why I couldn’t respond earlier. I have now convened a meeting with the officials and collected all the necessary information,” he added.
No direct role
Responding to Congress MLA Belur Gopalakrishna’s demand for his resignation, Zameer Ahmed said the legislator was misinformed. “We have no direct involvement in the house allocation process. Beneficiaries are selected at the gram panchayat level, and allocations are made based on recommendation letters from MLAs. In fact, 950 houses were allotted to the Aland constituency based on a letter from BR Patil himself,” he stated.
Patil defends remarks
Meanwhile, defending his remarks, BR Patil said, “I’ve said what needed to be said. I don’t know what action the chief minister will take.” He admitted that corruption exists in every government but expressed his disappointment, saying, “We came to power promising people-friendly governance. Corruption like this should not be happening.”
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Citing specific examples from his constituency, BR Patil alleged, “In five to six panchayats, people had to pay bribes to get their work done. Some panchayat presidents even altered projects to suit their interests.”
Expressing his frustration over the government's inaction, Patil said, “I wrote four letters to the Housing Department requesting housing allocations for my constituency, but not a single request has been addressed so far.”
(This article was first published in The Federal Karnataka.)