Congress plans to outdo TRS with improved Indiramma scheme

• Plans to give money directly to beneficiaries instead of taking up works with the help of contractors
• Ponnam, Uttam allege irregularities in TRS 2BHK scheme

Hyderabad: In order to neutralise the effect of double bedroom housing scheme of ruling TRS, which the Congress feels a big vote fetcher, the Congress has come out with the promise of improved Indiramma housing scheme.

Party leaders believe that the scheme would help the Congress in securing maximum votes as the beneficiaries are in lakhs.

They are of the opinion that with the 2BHK scheme the TRS has reaped rich dividends in the elections to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and also in the byelections to Lok Sabha and Assembly.

PCC working president Ponnam Prabhakar told The Hans India that the promise of new scheme was going well with people besides free six gas cylinders promise.

He said that the improved scheme would benefit about 20 lakh families in the State and would attract the attention of 10 lakh more.

“As the 2BHK programme of the government has failed, Congress scheme would be a big draw with the people,” he said.

Ponnam further alleged that though the government had completed the construction of about 2,000 houses, they were not given to the beneficiaries, especially in Siddipet mandal.

Recalling that the Congress had taken up Indiramma Housing Scheme during the rule of YS Rajasekhara Reddy government, Ponnam added that under the scheme, all the poor were provided with houses built each with a cost of Rs 1.75 lakh in rural areas.

Mocking TRS, he said that the pink party had launched the 2BHK scheme in 2015 and proposed to construct 2.60 lakh houses with a cost of Rs 7 lakh per unit.

However, so far, it had completed construction of only 2,000 houses, while works of rest of the houses were under various stages.

“The implementation of the scheme has been facing problems due to apathy of contractors.

The contractors are not willing to complete the works as per the specifications of government and demanding for increase of unit cost,” he said.

The Congress, while preparing for the elections, has seen a good opportunity to grab the votes in the Indiramma Scheme.

It has announced that the scheme would be launched with more facilities if voted to power.

Under the improved scheme, the beneficiaries, who have already constructed the houses under Indiramma scheme, would be given Rs 2 lakh for construction of additional room.

Those who apply for the scheme would be given Rs 5 lakh for construction of houses if they own a site.

PCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the Congress would give the money directly to the people so that they could construct the houses without bothering about the contractors.

He said that the party would sanction 2 lakh houses to the homeless every year in the next five years term if voted to power.