Vijayapura: Stating that every person, irrespective of their economic status, has a right to own a house, Housing Minister V Somanna said that the BJP government is trying to provide housing to all marginalized sections of society.
Speaking after laying the foundation stone for the construction of 1,493 houses under the Prime Minister Housing Scheme on Wednesday, he said that PM Narendra Modi and Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa are making efforts to provide houses to all under various schemes by 2022.
The Minister said that in 2015, the PM launched the housing scheme which is intended to provide housing for people in urban areas by the year 2022. Under this mission, the central and state governments will provide financial assistance up to Rs 3 lakhs and the remaining amount has to be borne by the beneficiaries.
“During the Congress government’s rule, they had reserved an amount of Rs 2,000 crore for the construction of 19,000 houses and the coalition government headed by the then CM H D Kumaraswamy didn’t even bother to announce a single penny for the PMAY. But, after Yediyurappa came to power in the state, he reserved Rs 10,000 crores for the project, which gave a boost to the project and works are being carried out in full swing,” he said.
On the occasion, MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal urged the Minister to give a nod for the construction of the remaining 2,500 houses under the same programme.
Assuring administrative approval for the same, Minister Somanna said that before arriving here, he met the Chief Minister and spoke at length about the housing schemes in Vijayapura. “The CM has assured of granting permission to all projects and has made it clear that there is no need to worry about financial aspects,” he said.
The Minister assured that within a month, he will give permission for the construction of the remaining houses.
In his address to the gathering, Yatnal said that the previous three MLAs of the city got only 58 houses constructed during their tenure.
“After I got elected, I succeeded in building a whopping 3,750 houses under the housing scheme. It is because of the then Minister of Housing, late Ambareesh, that we were able to get these houses. I had personally met and requested him to sanction the same,” he said.
Apart from houses, the programme will also help develop communal harmony in society as the houses will be allotted to people without any discrimination.
“We have already identified the lands for the remaining houses, which will be built in the coming days to make the city free of slums,” he added.
MLAs Devanand Chavhan, A S Patil Nadahalli and MC Managuli, Deputy Commissioner P. Sunil Kumar, Zilla Panchayat CEO Govinda Reddy, Bijapur City Commissioner Harsha Shetty, and other officials were present.
