APNGO groups clash over allotment of house sites

Hyderabad, June 30: An internal feud between two groups of Andhra Pradesh Non- Gazetted Officers (APNGOs) Association over house sites allotment marred the day-long dharna of Andhra Pradesh Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Employees, Teachers and Workers organised across the state on Tuesday.

The JAC took up a day-long dharna at all District Collectorates to pressurise the state government to solve their pending demands for hike in house rent allowance and filling up vacant posts in the state government.

The Dharna Chowk at Indira Park turned into a battleground as two groups belonging to the JAC chairman V Gopal Reddy and APNGOs leader T Subbarayan clashed with each other. Soon after the agitation programme was launched by Gopal Reddy, supporters of Subbarayan raised slogans against Gopal Reddy alleging that he swindled about Rs 17 crore in allotment of house sites belonging to the APNGOs Housing Society at Gachibowli.

This led to heated arguments between both the groups resulting in injuries to some of the agitators.

The police swung into action and used force to disperse the crowd.

They arrested 25 persons but released them on bail later in the evening.

Both Gopal Reddy and Subbarayan are head-on with each other over allotment of house sites sanctioned by the state government to the members of APNGOs Housing Society at Gachibowli in the city.

Subbarayan alleged that several younger NGOs were allotted house sites but many senior members of the society were denied the opportunity.

“Gopal Reddy did not follow the procedures mentioned in the government orders denying land to several genuine beneficiaries,’’ Subbarayan said. However, Gopal Reddy differed with it stating that the land was allotted as per the norms and challenged Subbarayan to prove charges against him.

Even as both the groups came on to the streets, the members of the JAC of Employees, Teachers and Workers feared that the internal feud in a single organisation sidelined their day-long dharna for resolving pending demands.

“It was embarrassing to see both the groups clashing with each other on the roads even as thousands of government employees participated in the dharna. Such issues should be solved in the organisational meetings but not during such agitation programmes,’’ said G Devi Prasad, general secretary of Telangana NGOs Association.

They condemned the incident stating that APNGOs should not make the remaining 119 organisations of JAC suffer for their internal disputes.

—Agencies