AP Govt to build 4 L houses for poor

Vijayawada: The State government has decided to construct four lakh houses for the BPL families in the state under the NTR Rural housing programme for the financial year 2019-20. 

The estimated housing project cost is Rs 6,648.60 crore. A total of Rs 6,448.60 crore will be spent for construction of houses and Rs 200 crore for development of infrastructure facilities. Kantilal Dande, Ex-officio secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh, on Tuesday released the GO in this regard.

The scheme will be implemented dovetailing with MGNREGS scheme. Houses will be constructed in the plinth area between minimum square area of 250 square feet and maximum area of 750 square feet. The unit cost for SC/ST category is Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1.50 lakh for others. 

The State government will give subsidy of Rs 1,66,500 to the SC/ST family for each unit. Additional subsidy of Rs. 3,000 will be given by rural development department and MGNREGS scheme funds will be Rs 30,450. The total value of each unit is Rs 2 lakh.

For others category, the subsidy of the State government is Rs 1,16,550, additional subsidy by the government is Rs 3,000 and MGNREGS scheme funds is Rs 30,450. The total cost of unit is Rs 1,50,000 for others category. Unit cost is Rs 50,000 less for others compared to the SC/ST beneficiaries under the NTR Rural housing scheme.

Notable point in this plan is that suggestive type of design will be made available for construction of houses and design can be changed basing on the availability of the land. With plinth area not exceeding 750 square feet.

These houses will be built in four different locations basing on the urban and rural population. Plan has been drawn for construction of houses in pure rural areas, mixed rural areas, pure urban areas and mixed urban areas.

Of the total houses the share of SCs is 17.10 per cent, STs is 5.33 per cent and the rest is for others. SC beneficiaries may get 68,400 housing units, ST beneficiaries will get 21,320 houses and the remaining 3,10,280 houses for others. 

The government order said the construction process will begin in this financial year 2018-19 and directives will be given for identification of beneficiaries.

As per the norms the houseless BPL families are eligible for the NTR Rural Housing Scheme. The applicant should have Aadhar card, white ration card and should live in kutcha house or in a house in dilapidated condition.