Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy took on the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government for its ‘slow paced’ free two-bedroom housing programme for the poor in the twin cities and in rest of Telangana. “It is not enough to build 50,000 houses for the poor in the city as there are at least 16 lakh people waiting to own a home. There was an overwhelming vote for TRS in the last GHMC polls expecting construction of two-bedroom housing on a large-scale, but this has not happened,” he said.
The Minister was talking to the media after inspecting the ongoing construction of the housing scheme at Saichand Colony in Musheerabad where foundation stone was laid five years ago but progress has been tardy. “Free two-bedroom housing scheme was the single point upon which the TRS was swept to power and even got their own Mayor. Yet so far not a single beneficiary name has been sent to the Centre for providing requisite funds,” he charged.
Contrasting it with the Andhra Pradesh scenario, Mr. Reddy pointed out that 12 lakh houses for the poor have been taken up there out of which seven lakh houses have been completed and also handed over to the beneficiaries with Centre providing its share of financial assistance. “Prime Minister Modi has committed to provide a home to every single eligible person and it is my responsibility to get the funds from the Centre for the same if the TRS government fulfils its part of the bargain,” he said.
There were about an estimated 10 lakh people without homes in the capital and although the government was building each home at an estimated cost of ₹8 lakh, the intended beneficiaries have nearly paid half of the amount in the last five years as rent expecting the new home nearby and also were forced to face all kinds of problems during the raging COVID-19 pandemic. They were all expecting to get a house within a year of laying of the foundation stone, he claimed.
The onus was on the TRS government to resolve the legal tangles and local disputes to expedite the construction of housing for the poor. Basic amenities like power, drinking water, sewage and road connectivity should be provided at the earliest, he added.