Hyderabad: The Telangana government on Thursday said that it will spend Rs 12000 crores for the construction of 4 lakh houses for poor families that possess land but cannot afford to build a house on it. Telangana health and finance minister T Harish Rao said that decision was taken in a cabinet meeting, among other things.
The decision comes just six months before the Telangana state polls, which are likely to be held in the last quarter of the year. Previously, the chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao-led BRS government here also announced the Dalit Bandhu scheme just before the Huzurabad by-poll in 2021 (it was necessitated after BRS leader Eatala Rajendra joined the BJP after he was sacked from the cabinet on corruption charges).
Aside from that, the state cabinet also made other announcements with regard to other schemes like phase two of Dalit Bandhu, Podu lands, mega Ambedkar statue at the new secretariat etc.
Gruha Lakshmi scheme
“Chief minister KCR took the decision to use Rs 12,000 crores for the construction of 4 lakh houses in the state under the ‘Gruhalakshmi’ scheme. People that have their own land will be given Rs 3 lakh to construct the houses in the name of the women in the family. 3,000 beneficiaries in each constituency will receive the money for the construction of the houses and the money will be directly deposited in their accounts in three phases,” Harish Rao said after the cabinet meeting.
He said that 30 lakh houses were constructed by the poor in the state using loans from previous governments. “Today the cabinet ratified the decision to pay these loans on behalf of the people. A of total Rs 4,000 crores will be waived by the state government,” he said.
On Dalit Bandhu phase 2
The Finance minister stated that under Dalit Bandhu phase 2, one lakh thirty thousand people will be the beneficiaries. “100 per cent of the beneficiaries received the scheme benefits in the Huzurabad constituency. In the rest of the 118 constituencies, 1,100 beneficiaries will receive the benefits in Phase-2”.
He said that the government had launched the Dalit Bandhu scheme on April 16, 2021, and it has been decided to celebrate April 16, every year on this occasion. “Chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has directed the officials to take steps regarding the swift implementation of the second phase,” he added.
On Podu lands
Harish Rao also announced the state government’s key decision to distribute 4 lakh acres of Podu lands to 155393 individuals from the tribal community. “Documents of individuals who were identified until now are printed and ready. This process will continue,” he informed.
On the mega Dr BR Ambedkar statue
The minister informed that the construction of Dr BR Ambedkar’s mega statue at Necklace road is complete and will be inaugurated on April 14.”Following the inauguration a huge meeting will be held with a participation from members of the Dalit community from across the state,” he said.
Speaking about the new secretariat building, he said that the inauguration of the new secretariat building and the Martyrs memorial will take place within a month or so after the inauguration of Dr BR Ambedkar’s statue. “Both inaugurations are set to be completed by June 2,” he added.
On Sheep distribution
On the second phase of the sheep distribution scheme, Harish informed that 7,31,000 beneficiaries were identified and 50 per cent of them have received sheep until today. “Rs 4,463 crores have been sanctioned by the cabinet committee to complete the rest of the distributions as soon as possible,” said the minister.
He informed that the district collectors will oversee the distribution of sheep for the rest of the beneficiaries to ensure transparency. “The distribution of sheep in the state will start in the month of April and is expected to be completed by August,” he added.
On regularisation of houses
Harish Rao that the chief minister has taken a decision to extend the deadline to apply for registration under GO 58 and 59.
“Under the GO 58, so far 1,45,668 have applied and 42,000 have applied as per the GO 59. The chief minister has decided to give one last chance to people who have missed out during the last registration. We have extended the time to apply for another month,” he said.
Guest houses in Kashi, Sabarimala
Harish informed that guest houses will be constructed at Kashi in Uttar Pradesh and Sabarimala in Kerala, both pilgrimages for the Hindu community in order to ease Telangana travellers from troubles. “To help the devotees that travel to Kashi, a guest house will be built in Kashi with all facilities. The government will spend Rs 25 crores on building the guest house,” said Rao.
He said that the chief minister has instructed the officials to reach out to the government officials in Kashi for land to build the guest house, if they are unable to provide the land, he asked them to buy private land.
“Another guest house will be built for Ayyappa devotees in Sabarimala using Rs 27 crores. The chief minister of Kerala, speaking to chief minister KCR previously has agreed to provide land for the construction of the guest house,” he said.
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