THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The city corporation is likely to disburse the first instalment of the money to 500 new beneficiaries of the LIFE Mission project in 100 wards within two months. The list of the beneficiaries has been prepared, and they will be given the amount once the fund from the Centre and the state government is approved. Under the project, 500 sqft houses costing Rs 4 lakh each are being built. Of the total amount, Rs 1.5 lakh is the Centre’s share (as per the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana scheme), while the state government is providing Rs 50,000. The remaining Rs 2 lakh is being given by the corporation.
At present, the construction of 5,900 houses has been completed in the corporation as part of the project. Meanwhile, the bricks left over by devotees after the Attukal Pongala were completely utilised for construction purposes. The bricks were handed over to 22 families. Each family received 8,000 bricks. The remaining unusable bricks have been stored at Putharikandam Maidanam.
“We are in the process of granting the maiden instalment to 500 new beneficiaries within two months. The list is already prepared. Once the beneficiaries get the building permit, we can start the disbursement process. However, it will take more than a month as there are 500 of them,” said Binu Francis, corporation secretary.
The civic body has prepared a list of 13,131 beneficiaries across 100 wards from 2017 till date. Of these, 5,900 houses have been completed and handed over to beneficiaries. They have also received the fourth instalment. About 7,700 have received the third instalment, while 8,800 have been given the second instalment. As many as 10,500 beneficiaries received the first instalment. The construction of houses for beneficiaries which are under various stages of funding is in progress.
A corporation official associated with the LIFE Mission project said the proceedings are ongoing, and the civic body will complete the instalment process and hand over houses to all 13,131 beneficiaries soon. “Efforts are on to complete the disbursal at the earliest. The instalments are being given based on the funds we received. Similarly, the bricks from Attukal Pongala have been completely utilised. Some of the bricks were unsuitable for construction purposes. Those living in distant places had to hire mini trucks to load the bricks, which turned out to be a costly affair for them,” the official added.
Life Mission (Corp) 2017-till date
Total beneficiaries- 13,131
Houses completed: 5,900
Beneficiaries (Instalment-wise)
First installment- 10,500
Second instalment- 8,800
Third instalment- 7,700
Fourth instalment (completed)- 5,900
Pongala bricks distributed - 8,000 bricks to each house
Total beneficiaries- 22 families