Andhra CM reviews housing projects, says not to compromise on quality of houses

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India], April 13 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the officials that there should be no compromise in the quality of buildings in Jagananna Colonies and TIDCO houses during the housing department review meeting in the camp office at Tadepalli on Thursday.

The department officials briefed the Chief Minister on the development works and said that Rs 10,203 crore rupees have been spent on housing projects in the financial year 2022-23 with a spending rate of Rs.28 crore per day and in 2023-24, the government has targeted to spend Rs 15,810 crore with the spending rate of Rs.43 crores per day.

"Andhra Pradesh's expenditure on housing is higher than the budget of some small states and even some central government departments do not have such a budget. It is proof of the priority given by our government to the housing scheme for all the poor," said the officials.

The officials also said that they are taking all kinds of measures to ensure that the quality of construction of houses is maintained as per the instructions of the Chief Minister.

"To ensure quality, a total of 4529 tests were conducted and if 2 per cent errors were found, appropriate action would be taken immediately," officials added.

Reviewing the infrastructure facilities in Jagananna colonies, the Chief Minister asked the officials to focus on electricity, drinking water, and drainage system.

In a reply to the Chief Minister, officials said that they are setting up soak pits for every house and they shall be used to infuse rainwater into the ground in the future.

The Chief Minister also reviewed the works of TIDCO houses and said that false propaganda against the housing projects should be countered.

"TDP has completely sidelined the construction of TIDCO houses during their regime. They could not give houses to even one beneficiary during their tenure. We are completing them and handing them over to the beneficiaries with good infrastructure. TIDCO has provided benefits worth Rs.21,000 crores to the beneficiaries in the form of houses and these facts should be put before the public," said the Chief Minister.

Officials explained the expenditure incurred by the TDP and the present government for the construction of TIDCO houses.

"During the TDP government beneficiaries of 300 square feet of houses had to pay a loan of Rs. 2.65 lakhs during TDP regime. It is a loan of Rs. 7.20 lakhs with interest for 20 years. During Jagan Govt: 300 square feet of houses are completely free. The present government is also providing free registrations to 2.62 lakh beneficiaries worth Rs 12,011 crores," said officials.

They further said that during the TDP government bank loan tie-up to beneficiaries from 2015 to 2019 was Rs. 78.08 crores, while during the CM-led government from 2019 till now, the amount of loans tied up with banks to the beneficiaries is Rs.1875 crores.

"TDP Govt: Not a single house was registered for the beneficiaries. Jagan Govt: From May 2019 till now, the number of houses registered under this government is 1,55,673. TDP Govt: They did not hand over a single house to the beneficiaries between 2015-19. But during Jagan Govt: 48,172 houses have been handed over to the beneficiaries under the current government," they said.

According to the officials, the TDP government spent Rs 8645 crore on the construction of houses, infrastructure, and repayment of loans to HUDCO, while during the Jagan government, the expenditure for the construction of houses, infrastructure, and payment of loans to HUDCO has been Rs. 9044 crores.

Further, the Jagan government also bore the burden of Rs.10,339 crore by allocating thousand - 300 square feet of houses benefiting 1,43,600 people.

Officials said that houses will be handed over to 1.50 lakh people by June 2023 and another 1.12 lakh people by December 2023.