The Telangana Congress today accused the BRS government of betraying countless homeless families who were promised 2BHK houses.
The Congress today levelled serious allegations against the BRS government, accusing it of betraying countless homeless families who were promised 2BHK houses.
Addressing the media at Gandhi Bhavan, TPCC official spokesperson Syed Nizamuddin highlighted the TRS government's "negligence and failure" in fulfilling the promises it had made to the weaker sections over the course of the past nine years.
He said that the BRS government led by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had promised double bedroom houses for the underprivileged when it assumed power in 2014. However, even after nine years there is still no clarity on when the 2BHK units would be handed over to the lakhs of applicants waiting across the State.
"The BRS government has not only failed to sanction an adequate number of houses for the weaker sections, but has also failed to complete the construction of the sanctioned houses," he said.
Citing information from the Intensive Household Survey (IHS) conducted by the KCR government in August 2014, the TPCC spokesperson highlighted the situation. Out of the 91 lakh households in Telangana, 45 lakh resided in single bedroom houses, 24 lakh lived in rented homes, and 27 lakh families had no homes at all. The population had also increased from 3.51 crore in 2011 to approximately 3.81 crore currently, exacerbating the housing crisis, he claimed.
Nizamuddin said that the Dignity Housing Scheme launched in 2015 with an estimated spending of Rs 19,32,832 crore had sanctioned only 2,91,057 houses, of which only 1,29,528 had been constructed, with another 58,350 in the final stages and 40,651 under construction. The construction of remaining units had come to a halt due to the State government's failure to clear the dues of over Rs 500 crore to the contractors, and an additional Rs 7,500 crore were needed to complete them. The BRS government has already taken a loan of Rs 9,800 crore from HUDCO, which negated the possibility of getting any fresh loan, he said.
Addressing the state of the 2BHK scheme within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits, Nizamuddin said that of the 1 lakh houses sanctioned and 7,09,718 applications received, only 68,176 2BHK units had reportedly been completed. Rs 2,846.91 crore was required to complete the remaining nearly 33,000 houses. There was no clarity on when these funds would be released and the date by which the remaining units would be constructed.
"Also, CM KCR inaugurated 15,600 units at Kollur and Ramachandrapuram, but keys were handed over to only 5 to 6 beneficiaries. What about the remaining 15,600 beneficiaries?" Nizamuddin asked, claiming that the project's inauguration on June 22 seemed more like a public relations exercise. He asked the BRS government when the project, touted as Asia's largest township, would be handed over to the intended beneficiaries.
He also criticized the BRS government for the delayed implementation of the Gruhalakshmi scheme. He said that in its 2018 election manifesto, the BRS had promised financial assistance ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh for economically disadvantaged individuals who owned plots and aspired to construct their own houses. However, the scheme had since been modified, with the BRS government now intending to provide only Rs 3 lakh for house construction. He said that it was quite impractical to expect someone to be able to construct an independent house with just Rs 3 lakh, especially considering that a 2BHK unit within a multi-apartment structure costed over Rs 7 lakh.
Nizamuddin demanded that the BRS government release a White Paper on the 2BHK Scheme detailing the houses sanctioned, constructed and under construction, district-wise details of the total applications received and approved, and the number of beneficiaries who actually got the 2BHK unit, and a specific deadline by which all 2.91 lakh units would be handed over to the beneficiaries.