Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao today extended the land lease for the Exhibition Society by 99 years.
The Society conducts the famed industrial exhibition Numaish every year, and also runs educational institutes.
Earlier today, there was some consternation as the Roads & Buildings Department, which is the owner of the land, apparently sent a notice to the Exhibition Society asking it to vacate its office from the Exhibition Society premises in Nampally. The rumour mills started going overdrive and stormy petrel V Hanumantha Rao started his fusillade against the "decision". But Finance Minister Etela Rajender quickly termed as baseless the rumours.
The Finance Minister, who is also Chairman of the Exhibition Society, clarified that there was no truth in the reports.
"Some people were carrying out a misinformation campaign against the Society," Rajendar said. "We did not cancel the lease, and there is no such proposal with the government. In fact, keeping the importance of the educational institutions in view, the Chief Minister has announced an extension of the lease of the Nampally land to the Exhibition Society for a period of 99 years. The concerned departments are working on the modalities. I appeal to the people to not believe some vested interests for spreading meaningless rumours on the lease of the Exhibition Society."
The Society was offering great services to the society by providing education to the poor and women, the minister said. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had himself, in the first inaugural program of the Exhibition Society after the formation of a separate Telangana state, said that the Society was serving the fields of education and health in a commendable way. He had also praised the Society for creating 18 top educational institutions including Vanitha Maha Vidyalaya, Kasturba Gandhi Maha Kalasala and Kamala Nehru Polytechnic which had even celebrated 50 years, the minister said.