The State government is contemplating providing 5 lakh houses more for the people not covered under both the rural and the urban housing schemes being implemented so far. The people living on the fringes of urban areas will be covered.
With this, the number of houses constructed for the poor and the middle class would touch 25 lakh. The government already constructing/sanctioned/constructed 19 lakh houses.
Of this, 13 lakh houses are being constructed by the Rural Housing department, while six lakh houses are being constructed by APTIDCO.
As per the new proposal, four lakh houses would be constructed in rural areas under the NTR Housing scheme and the rest in the urban areas. Unlike in the past, all houses in urban areas would be taken up by the Rural Housing Ministry. These houses would come up under the jurisdiction of the Urban Development Authorities (UDAs) such as the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA). The Finance department clearance is expected shortly.
Convergence approach
Rural Housing, Information and Public Relations (I&PR) Minister Kaluva Srinivasulu told The Hindu that the government was planning to fix the cost of each unit between ₹1.5 lakh and ₹2.5 lakh. It would be taken up by converging with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS), he said.
The government has noticed that some people living in villages abutting the urban areas have not been covered so far. The scheme is being devised for them too. The government also proposes to cover more than 300 villages, he said.
Transparency
Asked how the government’s claims of constructing lakhs of houses could be verified, the Minister said, “Every detail of the beneficiary is uploaded onto website apgovhousing.apcfs.in. The photos of each house are also uploaded. District-wise details can be verified online.”
Details of each house sanctioned/constructed are uploaded from the foundation stage. The bills would be cleared in three stages — foundation, roof and completion level. The final bill would be cleared only if the house was constructed, he said.
The government has been maintaining transparency in housing projects by introducing cashless transactions. The amount is being credited online into the respective beneficiaries’ accounts through the National Payments Corporation of India. People’s participation is more in the housing scheme, he added.