No beneficiaries,no land: Plan outlay for housing shrinks

Chief Minister Mayawati had announced this scheme last year with an aim to provide 1.01 lakh free houses to the urban poor every year.

As per reports received from districts across the state so far,there is no government land available for this scheme in 10 districts-Saharanpur,JP Nagar,Pilibhit,Basti,Sant Kabir Nagar,Chandauli,Jaunpur,Baghpat,Gorakhpur and Maharajganj.  

The scheme in Gautam Buddha Nagar and Meerut will be discontinued in the absence of beneficiaries for the scheme.

The government will now be able to develop over 53,000 houses only in the second phase against the target of 1.01 lakh of the original plan.

After facing a similar problem in the first phase of the scheme (2008-09),the state government had decided to get a survey conducted in all the districts to check whether land and beneficiaries were available or not.  

“The district magistrates will be directed to check with various government departments,like Irrigation,whether they have any land that could be used in this scheme,” said Balvinder Kumar,Principal Secretary of Ambedkar Gram Vikas Department.

In case the land is not available with other departments,the state government will look for other options like purchasing or acquiring fresh land,said sources.

To rope in more beneficiaries,the government is going to relax the norms of the scheme. Currently,only people with a BPL card are eligible for the free houses. Soon,people who don’t own plots or a pucca house will also be eligible. If they do not have a BPL card,they can submit a certificate to indicate that the annual income of the family from all sources does not exceed Rs 2,500.

“The revised norms will soon be announced after receiving approval from the government,” said Kumar.

“After relaxing the norms,there is a possibility that the number of beneficiaries could increase,” said an official.  

For some districts,the government has already released funds to start the construction of houses.

In Sonbhadra,Aligarh,Jhansi,Hardoi,Etawah,Kannauj and Badaun districts,funds have been released for building 1,500 houses in each. In Shrawasti and Siddarth Nagar districts,1,000 houses each are being constructed.  

According to sources,the state government is willing to start the construction of houses in the second phase by the first week of December at all the available sites.