Housing schemes to be accorded priority status

HYDERABAD: The housing programme in the state is likely to get priority status if the interest shown by chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is any indication. According to official sources, the chief minister wants officials to take more interest in it and form a team in each mandal or constituency to monitor the progress of the scheme. He wants the involvement of ministers, MPs, MLAs and other public representatives along with officials to concentrate on grounding the programme.“This is the state government’s flagship programme which has been taken up with noble intentions. Our intention is to provide shelter to shelterless poor people in the state. No where in the country has such a gigantic housing programme been taken up by any government. However, we have to take it up more seriously and complete all the houses and put the scheme on a fast track. Grounding lakhs of houses are of no use unless they are completed on time to be handed over to the beneficiaries,” chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is reported to have said at a review meeting with officials recently.That the chief minister is keen on the scheme is evident from the fact that he enhanced the unit cost of rural pucca houses to Rs 45,000 and urban pucca houses to Rs 55,000. The chief minister also directed the finance department to work out the financial implications of this decision and wanted it to be placed before the state cabinet on May 24. The delay in grounding the programme is increasing the prices of the building materials, mason and labour charges.