VIJAYAWADA: Launching the Jagananna Sampoorna Gruha Hakku (One-Time Settlement) Scheme at Tanuku in West Godavari district on Tuesday, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy described it as yet another step to change the economic status of lakhs of poor people.
“Beneficiaries of the housing scheme will get full rights on houses allotted by the government in the past with the implementation of Sampoorna Gruha Hakku Scheme and they can gift or sell the houses as per their wish,” he said.
Addressing a public meeting, Jagan said it gave him great pleasure to launch yet another welfare scheme on his birthday, which will benefit 52 lakh people. He announced that the OTS scheme has been extended till Ugadi (April 2) to enable more people opt for the voluntary scheme.
“Own house is a culmination of efforts of the lifetime of an individual. Like native village, it too has a significance. Everyone dreams of owning a house, living in it and passing it on to their children as a valuable asset. For the past two and a half years, our government has been making every effort to fulfill this dream of people,” he said.
He explained various measures taken by his government with respect to housing, including allotment of 31 lakh house sites for the poor, which will create an asset worth Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh each, once the houses are constructed and basic infrastructure is developed. Under the OTS scheme, 8.26 lakh registered house documents will be given to beneficiaries. “This is an indication of a great change in society,” he asserted.
Under the scheme, the government is waiving Rs 10,000 crore outstanding housing loans of 40 lakh beneficiaries, who got loans from the Andhra Pradesh Housing Board Corporation up to August 15, 2011.
The beneficiaries will be given house documents with clear titles after free registration. The exemption of registration charges and stamp duty for housing beneficiaries alone costs Rs 6,000 crore, he elaborated.
In the last 30 months, the government has credited Rs 1.16 lakh crore to bank accounts of people under various welfare schemes through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) without the involvement of middlemen.
“Why would I take money from the poor in the name of OTS scheme when over Rs 1.16 lakh crore has been provided to people under various welfare schemes,” he asked and exhorted people to put the same question to Opposition parties.
Taking a dig at Opposition Leader N Chandrababu Naidu and others for criticising the YSRC government for coming up with the OTS scheme, he alleged that they were making the comments unable to digest the fact that it was benefiting lakhs of poor people in the State.