Minister for Local Self-government Paloli Mohammed Kutty has called for time-bound completion of houses under the EMS Housing Scheme in view of the escalating cost of building materials.
Inaugurating the scheme for the beneficiaries in the city Corporation limits here on Friday, Mr. Mohammed Kutty said the houses being constructed under the scheme should be completed in a time-bound manner as only Rs.75,000 and Rs.1 lakh were being paid as financial assistance to the general and the Scheduled Caste categories, respectively.
He said steps should be taken to ensure that the building materials were supplied to the beneficiaries as the shortage of the materials and the increase in their prices would affect the construction of the houses.
Asserting that the aim of the government was to provide shelter to all the homeless in the State, Mr. Kutty said it would try to complete the scheme within two years.
Presiding over the function, Mayor C. Jayan Babu said as many as 9,802 beneficiaries had been shortlisted by the Corporation from among 15,000 applications received for the scheme. As the first step, the Corporation would give financial assistance to the 450-odd applicants who had land of their own.
He said that among the applicants, 7,000-odd did not have house and land in their name in the city. Although finding land was a complex issue, the Corporation was taking up the challenge and that of building houses for all under the EMS Housing Scheme.
Mr. Babu said the Corporation had constructed 6,955 houses under various housing schemes during 2005-10 as part of steps to solve the problem of housing for the poor in the city.
Later, Mr. Mohammed Kutty and V. Surendran Pillai, MLA, handed over the allotment letters to the beneficiaries. Deputy Mayor V. Jayaprakash welcomed the gathering. Additional Secretary C. Radhakrishna Kurup proposed the vote of thanks. V. Sivankutty, MLA, chairmen of various standing committees, and officials of the Corporation participated in the meeting.