Nagpur: Under the Centre`s Indira Aawas Yojana, the Maharashtra Government will construct 1.86 lakh houses for the backward class in the state.
The scheme, which was introduced in 2009-10, plans to provide a total of 10 lakh houses for the poor and the below poverty line (BPL) of the state. However, only those, who have
registered their names by the year 2008, are entitled to get the houses.
According to officials, the Social Justice Department has so far received around 3.50 lakh applications, including around one lakh in the Scheduled Castes category alone. About
60 per cent of houses are reserved for Scheduled Caste, while 15 per cent for minorities and other communities.
"As per the norms, people who have a plot of land are eligible to get a house. Under this scheme, houses are built both within the municipal limits and outside them. There are
fixed quotas for the houses," Maharashtra Minister for Social Justice, Shivajirao Moghe said.
"The Gharkul Yojana has received tremendous response in nine districts of Maharashtra, mostly from Konkan and western Maharashtra. Priority would be given to the people from the
below poverty line (BPL) and those who are just above poverty line (APL)," Moghe said. He said that Zilla Parishads are also involved in the scheme.
Divisional Social Welfare officer Sanjiv Gade said, "There is a scarcity of landowners for the construction of houses.
The design the houses under the scheme is provided by the Government of India. There are no irregularities, no middlemen involved and no political pressure from any quarter."
He said that 1,363 housing units are ready and there is a target of 4,965 houses for the year 2010-11.
PTI
