Indiramma houses find few takers

Desaraju Surya

Hyderabad: An unrealistic approach by the government is apparently hitting the most ambitious housing programme in the state very hard. Tall claims of the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy regime notwithstanding, the government is unlikely to achieve its target of building over 20 lakh houses across the state in the ensuing financial year. In fact, in the current financial year as well the targets are not going to be realised what with the housing programme proving a virtual non-starter in urban areas. As per the government’s records, of the 17,67,492 houses sanctioned in rural areas under the much-hyped Indiramma programme only 13,10,771 could be taken up in 2006-07 of which construction of only 2,22,968 houses has been completed. The remaining houses are under different stages of construction. Worse is the case in urban areas where, out of the sanctioned 2,34,028 houses, only 53,720 (23 %) could be taken up for construction. In the urban areas of Ranga Reddy district, for instance, only about 3,000 applications were received for Indiramma houses though 16,000 houses were sanctioned. Home minister K Jana Reddy, who also holds the housing portfolio, admitted that land problems, coupled with selection of beneficiaries, have been affecting the housing programme, especially in the urban areas. While required land is available for construction of 15 lakh houses, there is no land available for another five lakh houses in the state. In many districts, acquiring necessary land for the programme is proving difficult because of court litigation. In West Godavari district, for example, land cases relating to 59 villages are pending in courts largely affecting the programme, official sources said. Besides, beneficiaries are not so eagerly coming forward to derive the benefit as “they have their own priorities”. “The major flaw in the Indiramma housing programme is that it is not demand-driven, but rather supply-driven. As such, there are not many takers for it,” a district collector remarked. Moreover, the escalating construction costs are also proving a major deterrent as beneficiaries are required to spend at least Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 more on each house. The state government has fixed the unit cost at Rs 25,000 (Rs 7,000 subsidy, Rs 17,500 loan and Rs 500 beneficiary contribution) and providing an additional Rs 3,050 for individual sanitary latrine but still the beneficiaries are required to spend the extra amount to complete the house. In some districts, members of the women self-help groups are being extended an additional loan of Rs 10,000 from banks but the members are reportedly reluctant to avail of this as it could add to their financial burden. Another factor, according to some district collectors, that has been affecting the housing programme is “lack of confidence” on the housing department. “Given the department’s track record, many people believe the Indiramma houses too would end up being sub-standard. So, they are not so keen on putting their money in,” a district collector said. These factors, however, do not seem to be bothering the government as it has earmarked a whopping Rs 4,793 crore for the housing programmes. “These are just small issues but if one looks at the macro picture, this programme is by far the best in the entire country. Though difficult, we can certainly achieve the results overcoming all hurdles,” a senior official in the CMO said.