VIJAYAWADA: The State government has set an ambitious target of completing the construction of 12.59 lakh houses in the next four years, as part of its overall plan to build 15.59 lakh houses in five years, Housing and Information Minister Kolusu Parthasarathi announced. So far, 3 lakh houses have already been completed.
Speaking to the media at the Secretariat, the minister said the government aims to hand over 5 lakh houses by Ugadi and another 87,000 by June.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed that house-warming ceremonies be organised every three months to mark progress. Under PMAY-1.0, the Centre has extended the deadline by one year, enabling the state to complete 3.03 lakh pending houses by December.
The five-year target includes 8.87 lakh houses under PMAY-1.0, 91,000 under PMAY-2.0 Urban, and 5.81 lakh under PMAY-Gramin. Already, 3.47 lakh applications have been received through the Awas Yojana app, and the minister urged all eligible beneficiaries to register before the end of this month.
Parthasarathi criticised the Opposition for questioning the programme, noting that the previous government completed only six lakh houses in five years, while the current administration has finished 3.192 lakh houses in just 16 months.
He added that during 2014–19, the then TDP-led government had completed 8.687 lakh houses, while the subsequent regime cancelled 4.7 lakh sanctioned houses under the NTR Housing Scheme and withheld payments worth Rs 920 crore for completed houses, affecting SC, ST, BC, and EBC families.
The ongoing survey has identified 81,000 families needing house sites, while 1.15 lakh families living on government or poramboke lands will be issued possession certificates.
The minister said the government will soon issue a GO allowing twin houses with common walls to support joint families. Additional financial assistance worth `3,200 crore has been sanctioned for SC, ST, BC, and PVTG beneficiaries, while minorities will receive an extra `50,000 subsidy.
Parthasarathi also revealed that a vigilance report found irregularities by Rockrete Construction Company, which was assigned 50,402 houses but left 47,850 incomplete.
The company is alleged to have been involved in Rs 80 crore worth of corruption.