Bhubaneswar: Rural housing makes headway in Odisha with the completion of more than 31.08 lakh houses over the last six years. This was known from the oversight Committee meeting on Rural housing schemes held under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra on digital mode wherein Principal Secretary Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water ( PR & DW) Ashok Kumar Meena outlined the issues for discussion.
Reviewing the progress of rural housing schemes like Biju Pucca Fhar Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awass Yojana ( Gramees), Pucca Ghar Yojana ( mining), Nirman Shramik ( construction workers) Pucca Ghar Yojana, and Mastya Jeebi ( Fishermen) Basagruha Yojana Chief Secretary Sri Mahapatra directed to allot pucca houses to all 8,575 eligible families under primitive and vulnerable tribal groups ( PVTGs) category in a time bound manner.
Mahapatra also advised Principal Secretary Revenue and Disaster Management Bishnupada Sethi, present in the meeting to issue suitable instructions for allocation of homestead land to landless families by simplifying and leveraging provisions under different schemes. Collectors were asked to allot them the land where they were staying to the extent possible. Sri Mahapatra emphasized that the landless people were really poor, and in all fitness of the things they should be brought under the rural housing scheme.
Review showed that 31, 08, 471 houses allotted to beneficiaries under different schemes were completed and 1,75,960 houses were at different stages of construction. Chief Secretary directed to facilitate these beneficiaries through field level contact, and resolve the problems, if any faced by them for speedy construction of the houses. Around 39,198 beneficiaries found eligible for rural housing schemes were landless. Out of them 2,326 families were allotted land and the cases of balance families were under consideration as many of them were staying on objectionable lands. Chief Secretary Sri Mahapatra directed the revenue officials to expedite the process and allot them available Government land.
Further, considering the case of mining workers in mine areas, Chief Secretary directed the PR and DW department to make a survey of the housing requirement for the mine workers staying in hamlets. The departments of Steel and Mines and PR and DW were asked to work out the modalities for building pucca houses for them in shape of mining colonies.
The case of the families displaced for irrigation, infrastructural projects, and the families taken out of the reserve forest were also discussed in the meeting. Mahapatra directed to include such type of families under rural housing on priority basis.
Discussions in the meeting showed that around 12.25 lakh families who were found otherwise eligible through field enquiry should be included under PAMY for which Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had requested Government of India to open the PMAY portal for a month. Opening of the portal for a month would be a definite step towards pucca ghar for all on saturation mode.
Principal Secretary PR and DW Ashok Kumar Meena, Principal Secretary Revenue and Disaster Management Binshnupada Sethi, Principal Secretary Steel and Mines Deo Ranjan Kumar Singh, Director Special Projects Arindam Dakua along with senior officers of concerned departments participated in the discussion.
