As many as 95,106 beneficiaries who were allotted housing sites of 1.5 cents each in Andhra Pradesh under a government scheme two years ago have refused to build their houses there. Citing reasons, including low human habitations or having close proximity to burial grounds, these beneficiaries seek alternative locations for building their houses, say media reports.
See also: APSHCL and YSR Housing Scheme – Definitions and Facts
Officials from the state housing department confirmed that around 30% of the allotted housing layouts were located near burial grounds and 30% of them were far from the existing habitations. In some districts, people from two-three villages were grouped and allocated land in a single layout away from villages.
Special chief secretary (housing) Ajay Jain, however, maintained that the problem arose only in respect of about 50,000 beneficiaries. “We have asked the district collectors to conduct a survey and identify alternative land for house sites. After the survey, we will complete land acquisition and distribute house sites to the beneficiaries,” Jain was quoted by media as saying.
See also: NTR Housing Scheme: Eligibility, benefits and application process
Meanwhile, the government is forced to acquire about 600 acres of land, at an estimated cost of Rs 251 crore, for another 24,068 beneficiaries in Prakasam and Anantapuramu districts as the sites previously allotted were under litigation. As such, the beneficiaries here could not go ahead with construction of houses.
Two years ago, the state government distributed house sites to about 25 lakh women beneficiaries under the flagship ‘Pedalandariki Illu’ (houses for all poor) programme and promised to build as many houses in new layouts. The state government dovetailed this with the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana (PMAY).
Construction of 18.63 lakh houses as part of the first phase was to be completed by June 2023. However, construction of about 2 lakh houses hasn’t begun yet owing to legal problems and beneficiaries’ reluctance.
Of the remaining 16.67 lakh houses, construction of 6.96 lakh houses reached the basement and above level in over two years while construction of only 2.09 lakh houses was completed.
The Centre released a sum of Rs 5,172 crore to the state for the housing programme so far during the current financial year but Rs 1,140 crore has not been spent on the intended purpose. The state government is also yet to release its share of Rs 888 crore for the housing works, severely hampering the progress, officials said. They added that unless this Rs 2,028 crore is immediately released and utilised, the Centre will not release a further grant of Rs 2,488 crore.
Also, for work done under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin), the state government is yet to pay Rs 120 crore to the beneficiaries even as the housing department requested that Rs 220 crore be immediately released to put the programme on track.
Know about: Anantapur (Andhra Pradesh)
Housing News Desk is the news desk of leading online real estate portal, Housing.com. Housing News Desk focuses on a variety of topics such as real estate laws, taxes, current news, property trends, home loans, rentals, décor, green homes, home improvement, etc. The main objective of the news desk, is to cover the real estate sector from the perspective of providing information that is useful to the end-user.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/housing.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Housing
Email: [email protected]
Related Posts
TIDCO houses in AP: Cost and beneficiary list.
High potential for institutional rental housing, with 11.09 million vacant houses in India: Report.
COVID-19 impact: PMAY subsidy scheme extended till FY 2021.
PMAY HFA Urban: All about the scheme and PMAY urban progress.
NTR Housing Scheme: Eligibility, benefits and application process.
Ladli Behna Awas Yojana 2023.
