Beneficiaries who had started construction of houses at Jagananna Colonies, but were unable to complete the same due to a spurt in prices of input material, staged a demonstration at the Tirupati Collectorate on Monday demanding that the government’s contribution be enhanced to ₹5 lakh.
The development comes at a time when the State government has fixed the ‘Gruha Pravesam’ of the 30 lakh houses by Ugadi festival, even as the houses are nowhere nearing completion. The Communist Party of India (CPI), which has extended support to the agitating beneficiaries, announced a ‘Chalo Vijayawada’ rally on February 22 if their demands were not met by then.
The party’s State secretary K. Ramakrishna, who addressed the agitators in Tirupati, stated that the ₹1.80 lakh offered as the State’s contribution would barely meet the cost of foundation for the houses. “Priced at ₹8,000 per tractor and ₹40,000 per truck, sand has become the costliest commodity. In order to fulfil their ambition of owning a house, the poor people are getting sucked into a debt trap,” Mr. Ramakrishna observed.
The size of the housing units also came under fire at the dharna. “Having allocated just a cent of land towards each house, how can the Chief Minister build palatial buildings for himself in Pulivendula, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bengaluru and now in Vizag?” Mr. Ramakrishna said.
Referring to the government’s initial assurance that it would build the houses on its own, CPI State secretariat member P. Harinatha Reddy flayed the government for now asking the beneficiaries to build their houses with a ‘paltry’ allocation of ₹1.80 lakh.
Mr. Harinatha Reddy said that the CPI leaders had visited several housing colonies in the last 14 days. “Residents of Tirupati were allocated sites 20 km away, with no road, drainage, drinking water or electricity facility,” he said.
Published - February 06, 2023 09:13 pm IST
