VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy directed officials to take all possible legal measures to overcome obstacles coming in the way of the construction of houses for the poor in the R-5 Zone in the Amaravati capital region.
Holding a review meeting with the officials of the Housing Department at his camp office in Tadepalli on Thursday, the Chief Minister expressed displeasure over the hurdles being created by certain sections of people with a view to denying houses to the poor.
Mentioning the court cases coming in the way of the construction of houses for the poor people in the R-5 Zone, the officials informed him that 45,101 beneficiaries chose option 3 and the selection of contractors to construct houses was also completed.
Taking note of the progress of Jagananna housing colonies, the Chief Minister directed the officials to focus on developing basic infrastructure in the colonies and expedite the construction work, besides acquiring alternative land for distribution of house sites to the poor where court cases had stalled the proceedings.
Jagan insisted on the completion of houses in Visakhapatnam within the stipulated time and instructed the officials to prepare an action plan for completing the houses in Port City by December. “You should also work on plans to acquire land to distribute house site pattas to those who apply for sites afresh,” Jagan instructed.
The officials informed him that construction of 4,24,220 houses in Jagananna housing colonies was completed and 5 lakh houses would be ready by August 1. While the construction of 5,68,517 houses has reached roof level, 9,56,369 houses are at various stages. They further said the government had incurred an expenditure of Rs 2,201 crore on housing in the current fiscal.
While reviewing the progress of Tidco houses, the Chief Minister directed the officials to make them self-reliant in all aspects. Going by the proposals submitted by the officials, he gave approval to set up commercial complexes to cater to the needs of the people residing in Tidco colonies.
The commercial complexes will be set up at 15 Tidco colonies in the first phase. Jagan wanted the officials to ensure that the commercial complexes are run under the supervision of women for their empowerment. He also gave a nod for setting up solar panels on Tidco houses.
The officials informed that they have so far handed over 71,452 Tidco houses to the beneficiaries. In all, 29,496 houses will be handed over to beneficiaries in July and 49,604 houses in August. Bank loans to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore have been arranged for the beneficiaries, who opted for the Tidco houses of 365 and 430 sq ft, while the houses of 300 sq ft are being given free of cost.
Housing Minister Jogi Ramesh, AP State Housing Corporation Chairman D Dorababu, Managing Director G Lakshmisha, Special Chief Secretaries Ajay Jain (Housing) and Y Srilakshmi (MA&UD), TIDCO Chairman J Prasanna Kumar, Managing Director Ch Sridhar and other officials were present.