The project will come up in the same area where the colony, located in the middle of Solapur city, has existed for decades. The colony was once the hub of textile workers. After the closure of textile mills, many had joined work at the beedi factories. (Express photo: Nirmal Harindran)The Country’s biggest beedi workers’ colony in Solapur is set for a major makeover with the state government paving the way for the construction of 30,000 houses under the Prime Minister Awas Yojna.
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis performed bhoomi pujan for the project, worth Rs 1,811 crore, officials on Thursday drew an elaborate plan to ensure that work is completed by 2020.
Under the project, the government will provide financial subsidy up to Rs 1.5 lakh to a family, which owns a land, for building a house. In case of landless families, the government will provide a financial aid of Rs 50,000 and help the family find a suitable land to build the house.
The project will come up in the same area where the colony, located in the middle of Solapur city, has existed for decades. The colony was once the hub of textile workers. After the closure of textile mills, many had joined work at the beedi factories.
“The houses will be built for beedi workers, rickshawalas and other labourers residing in the colony,” Fadnavis had said on Wednesday.
While there are 65,000 beedi workers in Solapur, almost 90 per cent women in the colony are engaged in the craft.
On an average, one gets paid Rs 120 to Rs 140 for rolling 1,000 beedis daily.
CPI(M) leader and former Solapur MLA Narsaiyya Adam has been for years demanding better wages, basic civic amenities and houses for the beedi workers in the colony. “I have been pursuing the housing project and better amenities for the poor workers with the successive governments. I am happy that the state government and the Centre have approved the project,” he said.
The state government wants to complete all its projects under PMAY — 22 lakh houses in all — within 2022. The target is to build 12 lakh houses in rural and 10 lakh for urban areas. “Almost six lakh houses have been completed. The remaining would be completed by 2022 in phases,” said an official.
