60,000 green houses at Rs 1,260 crore

Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday allocated Rs1,260 crore for the construction of 60,000 green houses with solar powered lights for the poor in rural areas during the current financial year. She also hiked the unit cost for each house from Rs 1.8 lakh to Rs 2.1 lakh, considering the increase in the prices of construction materials.

During the year 2011-12, 60,000 green houses were constructed at a cost of Rs 1,080 crore and the target of constructing another 60,000 such units for the year 2012-13 would be achieved soon.

The CM had fixed a target of constructing three lakh green houses in five years. Each house is constructed on a 300 sqft plot and the State government bears the entire cost. The Green House Scheme is a first-of-its kind initiatives in the country launched by the Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

All those living below the poverty line in rural areas are eligible for solar powered green houses. Each house consists of a living room, bedroom, kitchen, toilet and verandah, apart from rainwater harvesting system. Each house is provided with five solar-powered compact fluorescent lamps (CFL). The  beneficiaries are given the option of having a TNEB power connection, which would be metered.

The green houses are constructed either in situ (replacing the beneficiary’s existing dwelling structure) or on land owned by the beneficiary elsewhere in the village panchayat. The scheme does not envisage land acquisition and only those with patta for their sites are eligible for a green house under this scheme.