226 families to get houses under fishermen’s welfare project

Lots drawn to identify first set of beneficiaries

As many as 226 families will be given financial aid for building houses under the Chellanam model fishing hamlet project.

Lots were drawn to identify the first set of beneficiaries of the project at the Collector’s camp office in the presence of Dominic Presentation, MLA, on Thursday.

Draft list

The draft list of the project includes 496 families. Of these, 10 per cent have been reserved for the sick, widows, etc.

Apart from this, the fisheries department will construct 33 houses under the Chellanam fishermen colony project.

Under the model fishing hamlet project, Rs.2.5 lakh is being allotted to fishermen for building houses. At present, financial assistance is being extended through the fisheries department to those who have two cents of land.

Housing funds

The meeting fixed the built-up space of houses under the project at 350 sq ft. Funds will be released in three instalments.

The first instalment will be given at the time of unloading construction materials for the new house after demolishing the old one. The second instalment will be given during the construction and third after the completion of the house.

Exemption

The funds will be deposited in the beneficiaries’ accounts. The meeting decided to exempt those who had failed to effectively utilise the funds received under the project of the fisheries department during the last five years.

The fisheries department will release the list of beneficiaries identified through the draw of lots on September 24. Mr. Presentation recommended that funds be handed over immediately after the list is published and agreements are entered into with the beneficiaries.

The meeting gave instructions to complete the construction of all 226 houses in the initial phase in this financial year itself.

Officials concerned will monitor the progress of the construction and inform the district-level committee. A committee chaired by Mr. Presentation and District Collector P.I. Sheikh Pareed as convener will monitor the progress of the project. The committee will also include officials and president of Chellanam panchayat as members. Mr. Pareed, Chellanam panchayat president K.P. Thankappan, and fisheries deputy director E.K. Georgekutty were among those present at the meeting.