Andhra Pradesh: 30.76 lakh homeless get house sites

Vijayawada: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday asserted that despite hurdles created by the opposition TDP, the state government had provided 30.76 lakh house sites and proposed to construct 15.6 lakh houses in phase-1.

Replying to a short discussion on housing in the state Assembly, the Chief Minister told the Legislative Assembly that the government had acquired 71,811 acres of land. The market value of this land is Rs 25,000 crore.

As part of the project, about 17,005 colonies are being built and in the first phase Rs 28,000 crore was spent for 15.6 lakh houses. He said apart from providing permanent shelter to the poor, it would also give a boost to the rural economy as it would require about 71 lakh tonnes of cement, 312 lakh tonnes of sand, 7.5 lakh tonnes of steel and 1,250 crore bricks. It will be a game-changer in increasing GSDP, he said.

He said the housing schemes in the TDP term were laden with corruption and inflated costs. Citing the previous government's housing module as pathetic, he said that only 215 sq. ft house was offered in the past, while the current government is now providing a constructed house in an area of 340 sq ft.

The Chief Minister said that the government has been implementing the scheme in a transparent manner, without leaving out any eligible beneficiary, where even the public representative can go around confidently in their constituencies. He said that Rs 32,909 crore is being spent on creating facilities like drinking water, drains, roads power supply, internet, along with schools, hospitals, village secretariats, RBKs, digital libraries which will be established over a period. He said that the government is going with centralised procurement for construction materials to reduce the cost and get quality material.