TDP leaders obstructing housing projects in AP: Govt advisor

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh government advisor of public affairs Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy on Monday criticised the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) suprempo and former AP chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for “hampering” prestigious housing project. He stated that the government will approach a divisional bench for further proceedings.

Addressing the media at Amaravati, Sajjala said that TDP leaders are doing “cheap politics and obstructing the housing scheme with sheer jealousy and unrest”. He also lamented that some political forces were “committing atrocities by using courts” for their own selfish deeds.

Sajjala asserted that justice would prevail and added that 31 lakh poor families in the state were homeless and that the construction of houses was aimed at providing shelter as an asset to the poor. “The government is not violating any rules and the entire housing project meets the norms of the National Building Code (NBC),” he added.

Drawing a comparison with the previous TDP government, Sajjala said that the plinth area of the Indiramma houses is 215 sq ft, while the same during the Telugu Desam Party government was only 224 sq ft.

“The current government has been constructing houses in 340 sq ft. As per NBC, the minimum plinth area required to take up construction is 221.9 sq ft, however, the State government is constructing houses in more than the minimum plinth area,” Sajjala added.

The advisor to the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRC), led by chief minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, said said that the state is providing house sites of 31.72 sq mt, whereas in other states like Arunachal Pradesh beneficiaries are getting house site of only 25 sq mt and 27.1 sq. mt in Uttar Pradesh.

“Chief Jagan Mohan Reddy has taken this initiative as a mission to fulfil the dream of the poor in owning a house and started the construction of 15.6 lakh houses duly meeting all the required standards,” Sajjala stated.