Will Complete 5 lakh houses for poor by March: Minister P Narayana

AMARAVATI: Promising to construct pucca houses to every eligible poor family in the state,

municipal administration minister Dr P Narayana

has called upon the mayors and chairpersons of municipal towns to take lead in completing the housing projects in their respective towns and cities. He said that people would remember their services throughout their life if they could able to provide shelter to the poor.



Dr Narayana held a review meeting with all the chiefs of the civic bodies in the state here on Tuesday. Addressing the meeting, Narayana said that they have to target to complete at least 5 lakh houses by March 2019. “We can reach our target only when the mayors, chairpersons, municipal commissioners play a proactive role by regularly monitoring the works. I request you to put your heart to complete the projects,” he suggested.

He said that the government had sanctioned 7 lakh houses for the poor in which they wanted to complete at least five lakh by March. He said that the mayors and chairpersons too could derive satisfaction by providing houses to so many people shelterless people during their tenure. He said that they have bagged 31 national level awards including top ranks in Swachh Sarvekshan and cleanly cities.

Dr Narayana said that municipal bodies used to focus only on solid waste management, drinking water and drainage systems in the past. He, however, said that they have changed the agenda of civic bodies to health, housing and traffic management. They have constructed 100 Anna Canteens and readying plans to complete another 100 canteens shortly.

He said that they have been constantly reviewing the progress of the works with the officials and public representatives to put the progress of the works on fast track. He said that the regular reviews had also helped reducing the civic grievances across the state.

The minister said that there is an acute shortage of land for construction of houses in the state. He said that they were taking land through the Land Pooling Scheme in Visakhapatnam while granting permission for purchase of land in Guntur. He said that they were ready to purchase about 500 acres of land for housing projects across the state.

He said that there is a huge demand for seats in municipal schools than the private schools after they brought changes to the system. They have granted Rs.12600 crore for improvement of infrastructure in urban areas. Principal Secretary Karikal Valaven, State Director of Municipal Administration (DMA) K Kanna Babu, urban beatification corporation MD Chandramohan Reddy, Vijayawada mayor Koneru Sridhar, mayors of several municipal corporations and commissioners from nearly 110 municipal towns were present.