Land shortage cloud on housing scheme

In view of the limited availability of land,the state government has allocated only Rs 400 crore for the scheme in the current year. The budget for the scheme in the last financial year 2012-13 was Rs 100 crore for the construction of 4,000 dwellings in the first phase,but not a penny was spent.

With the availability of Rs 500 crore now,and following the increased cost of construction materials in the past one year,the government has estimated to construct around 15,000 houses this year.

When the guidelines of the scheme were issued on January 16 this year,the construction cost of each dwelling unit was fixed at Rs 2.50 lakh. “Due to escalation in the cost of construction materials in past few months,the construction cost of each dwelling unit is being revised to Rs 3.25 lakh’’,said an official.

The Samajwadi Party government had scrapped the Kanshiram Shahri Garib Awas Yojna,meant to provide free houses to the rural poor,on May 11 and later announced to launch the Aasra scheme. The District Urban Development Agencies (DUDA) started surveys for availability of undisputed government land in all districts in July.

The surveys are still on,but only 20 districts have reported availability of land so far. Detailed project reports (DPR) of construction of houses have been prepared for only three districts,namely Faizabad,Mainpuri and Rampur.

Around Rs 9.49 crore would be required for construction of 312 flats in Mainpuri,Rs 3.65 crore for 120 flats in Rampur and Rs 65 lakh for 26 flats in Ayodhya town of Faizabad.

Availability of land has been reported also in Moradabad,Etawah,Gonda,Kanpur Nagar,Kannauj,Bulandshahar,Baghpat,Saharanpur,Farrukhabad,Aligarh,Basti,Banda,Jalaun,Lucknow,Lakhimpur Kheri,Unnao and Mirzapur.

“We require land in the area of urban local bodies to ensure that allottees do not have to go far to make an living,but availability of land in such areas is low,” said an official.

Rampur is the home district of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation Minister Azam Khan who laid the foundation of 120 dwellings,marking the formal launch of the scheme last week. Azam Khan there said that the Aasra scheme will be implemented across the state and presently land has been made available in 15 districts.

Under the Aasra housing scheme,free houses will be provided to urban poor living in minority dominated slums whose monthly income is up to Rs 6,000,registered rickshaw pullers,OBC and SC people who do not own any and possess BPL card,and released manual scavengers. The houses will be constructed on ground plus two floors. Each house will be of 25 square metre and have a room,a verandah,a kitchen and a bathroom.

Slow progress

Detailed project reports prepared for three districts — Faizabad,Mainpuri and Rampur

Availability of land reported in Moradabad,Etawah,Gonda,Kanpur Nagar,Kannauj,Bulandshahar,Baghpat,Saharanpur,Farrukhabad,Aligarh,Basti,Banda,Jalaun,Lucknow,Lakhimpur Kheri,Unnao and Mirzapur