More than 95,000 Beneficiaries Reject House Sites Provided by Andhra Govt

GG News Bureau

Amaravati, 4th Jan. More than 95,000 women beneficiaries in Andhra Pradesh who were given house sites two years ago are now refusing to build houses under a government scheme for a variety of reasons.

In fact, they have asked the state government to provide them with alternative sites because the current layouts are either too far away from human habitations or too close to burial grounds.

This has put the government in a bind, as it will have to spend nearly Rs 800 crore to find alternative sites.

“If we are to fulfil the demand, we will have to acquire more than 2,000 acres of land from private owners for these people. Previously, what we gave away was government land,” a top official of the Housing Department said.

Department officials recently informed Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy of 95,106 “tough cases” in which beneficiaries refused to take the house site (1.5 cents each) and also build a house.

Officials stated that the new housing layouts were “located near unsuitable areas such as burial grounds” in at least 30% of the cases.

Another 30% of the time, the proposed layouts were too far away from the existing habitations, so the beneficiaries rejected them.

Such issues have arisen in many mandal headquarters towns as well as in some semi-urban areas.

In some districts, officials gathered people from two to three villages and attempted to create a single layout away from the villages. Beneficiaries in this case are demanding that only sites in their respective villages be provided.

However, Special Chief Secretary (Housing) Ajay Jain insisted that the issue was limited to about 50,000 beneficiaries.

“We have asked the district collectors to conduct a survey and identify alternative land for house sites. After the survey, we will complete land acquisition and distribute house sites to the beneficiaries,” Jain said.

Meanwhile, the government is being forced to acquire 600 acres of land in Prakasam and Anantapuramu districts for another 24,068 beneficiaries at a cost of Rs 251 crore because the previously allotted sites are being challenged in court.

As a result, the beneficiaries in this case were unable to proceed with house construction.

According to housing department officials, alternative lands have been identified in the two districts, and the acquisition process has begun.

The state government distributed house sites to approximately 25 lakh women beneficiaries under the flagship ‘Pedalandariki Illu’ (houses for all poor) program two years ago and promised to build as many houses in new layouts as possible.

The state government coordinated with the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana and began construction of 18.63 lakh houses in the first phase, with a target completion date of June 2023.

However, construction of nearly 2 lakh houses has yet to begin due to legal issues and beneficiary reluctance.

Only 6.96 lakh of the 16.67 lakh houses started have reached the basement and above level in more than two years, with only 2.09 lakh houses completed.

So far in the current fiscal year, the Government of India has released Rs 5,172 crore to the state for the housing programme, but Rs 1,140 crore has not been spent on the intended purpose.

The state government is also yet to release its share of Rs 888 crore for the housing works, severely hampering the progress, officials lament.

“Unless this Rs 2,028 crore is immediately released and utilised, the Centre will not release a further grant of Rs 2,488 crore. This will jeopardise the whole programme,” the officials said.

For work done under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin), the state government is yet to pay Rs 120 crore to the beneficiaries, even as the Housing department requested that Rs 220 crore be immediately released to put the programme on “autopilot mode”.