HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday urged Union Minister for Rural Development and Agriculture Shivraj Singh Chouhan to allocate 11,56,915 houses to Telangana under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G).
The chief minister met Chouhan in New Delhi. During the meeting, Revanth briefed the Union minister about the Indiramma housing scheme being implemented in Telangana for the benefit of poor people.
“Demand for housing increased as the previous government failed to utilise the PMAY-G scheme. Lakhs of poor were left without homes for the past decade,” he informed the Union minister.
Stating that a survey conducted by the state government using the ‘Awaas+’ app, developed by the Union Ministry of Rural Development, had identified 11,56,915 eligible rural families, he sought allocation of houses to Telangana at the earliest.
In view of the El Nino impact, the chief minister also requested Chouhan to extend Central support to the state.
He urged the Union minister to send Central teams to assess the drought-like conditions in the state.
Revanth also sought inclusion of additional works, including construction of vegetable trellis structures, development of fodder plots, mulberry cultivation, silkworm rearing sheds, kitchen gardens (for leafy greens and vegetables) and bamboo plantations on farmers’ lands, under the ‘Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajivika Mission-Rural (VB G-RAM-G).
“Inclusion of additional activities in the scheme will improve livelihoods and promote crop diversification for SCs, STs, small and marginal farmers and agricultural labourers, who are faced with lack of work due to deficient rainfall,” he said.
The chief minister also highlighted the urgent need to incorporate works involving the construction of water-retention trenches on hill slopes, moisture-conservation trenches for existing plantations and orchards, and the restoration of lands damaged by floods and sand casting in the scheme.