Visakhapatnam: Speed up land pooling exercise

Visakhapatnam: Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Praveen Prakash has directed Revenue officials to speed up the land pooling exercise for the poor. Speaking at a meeting organised at Zilla Parishad conference hall on Wednesday, he said the government land should be collected as much as possible to distribute to the poor under the housing scheme.

The government will distribute 1.5 cents of land for the construction of house for the homeless on Ugadi festival. Praveen Prakash advised the officials to identify the places wherein the infrastructure can be developed close to their villages.

He said the lands previously allotted to institutions that were left unused except the ones belonging to the medical and educational institutions and temples and related organisations could be taken back. He stated that volunteers' services should be utilised to educate the beneficiaries and help them avail themselves of the government schemes.

Speaking on the occasion, District Collector V Vinay Chand said non-availability of government lands would be filled with with private lands after identification of the sites for the purpose. Meanwhile, Praveen Prakash and District officials inspected the government lands. They visited the villages, such as Jerripothulapalem, Kurmanapalem and Sabbhavaram areas. About three lakh eligible poor people in the district will be given house sites, the officials mentioned.

Joint Collector M Venugopala Reddy, Paderu Sub-Collector S Venkateswar, District Revenue Officer M Sridevi, Revenue Divisional Officer P Kishore, DRDA Project Director V Visweswara Rao, tahsildars, surveyors of the district participated.