HYDERABAD: Notwithstanding the number of houses constructed for the poor by successive governments in the rural areas across Telangana till June 2014, the task of providing double-bedroom houses is going to be a very tall order for the State Government.
According to the recently concluded Socio Economic and Caste Census-2011, nearly 36 lakh out of a total of 56.44 lakh rural households, which include about 4.41 lakh households staying in rented/other houses, have dwellings up to two rooms only.
The double-bedroom housing scheme conceived by the TRS Government, however, would have two bedrooms, a hall and kitchen besides a bathroom-cum-toilet.
Dignified living
From 1983, when the construction of pucca houses was taken up for the poor, successive governments could construct only about 42.27 lakh pucca houses under various schemes in rural areas of Telangana. However, all those houses are “match-box-like”, as compared often by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, since they have only one room and some space for kitchen.
“Priority of the State Government’s double-bedroom housing scheme now is to provide a dignified (2BHK) shelter to the homeless first. Covering the families with homes with lesser comfort comes later,” a senior State Government official said admitting that providing double-bedroom houses to all eligible families would be a gigantic task. Such an exercise would require two to three decades even if implemented with commitment, the official observed.
The Chief Minister had admitted in the Assembly recently that double-bedroom housing was a continuous programme. Housing Department officials stated that only about 1,500 double-bedroom houses were completed so far, in two-and-a-half-years of Telangana State’s existence, out of 2.6 lakh houses sanctioned. Another 10,000 houses were in different stages of construction. Nevertheless, the State Government has already tied up ₹17,660 crore for the double-bedroom housing scheme with about ₹15,900 crore loan from HUDCO. “New guidelines will be issued soon for speeding up the housing scheme by relaxing norms on sand and understanding with 31 companies to supply cement at ₹230 per bag,” Housing Minister A. Indrakaran Reddy stated.
