‘Joy of getting keys from President greater than becoming home owner’

President Kovind was in Bhavnagar on the second day of his three-day tour and inaugurated an affordable housing project of the Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) in Subhashnagar area of Bhavnagar city.

The president handed keys of 1,088 affordable houses, constructed by the BMC for economically weaker section (EWS-I) category, to beneficiaries who were selected through a draw of lots. BMC has constructed these houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), the flagship affordable housing scheme of the Central government aimed at providing housing to all by 2022. These 1BHK flats cost Rs 3 lakh to beneficiaries.

A few beneficiaries who were handed over keys of their affordable homes by the President said they were overwhelmed by the occasion. “To be honest, I didn’t know who our President was  nor do I remember having seen his photos. But I was completely overwhelmed when the President, while handing over the key of the affordable flat that we have landed, asked me as to when shall I move into my own home,” said Daksha Baraiya (46), a sanitation worker with the BMC.

Daksha has studied till Class 6 and had joined the BMC as a sanitation worker three years ago.

Niru Chauhan (45), another sanitation worker with BMC, also  stated that she, too, didn’t know the President before hoardings were set up in the city announcing his visit.

“We are living in a two-room house constructed on the land belonging to my mother in Tilaknagar. I am happy that I will have a flat which I can call my own home. But the joy of getting the keys at the hands of the President is much greater than becoming the owner of a home,” said Chauhan who has studied till Class 8.