Fifty-four-year-old Geethakka, as Geetha Gopinath is known in the surroundings of Urva Marigudi in the city, was helpless when her tiny house in the locality got severely damaged and became almost uninhabitable during the heavy rain last monsoon.
With husband Gopinath M.K. passing away about a decade ago leaving her to fend for herself and her little daughter, Ms. Gopinath worked in an industry at Baikampady to meet her requirements. “I did not have enough resources to repair the house and was helpless,” she told The Hindu .
After learning about her difficulties, Mangaluru South MLA D. Vedavyasa Kamath assured her of help and arranged for funds from the Pradhan Mantri Avas Yojana as well as from the State government through the Mangaluru City Corporation. But the funds that came from the two governments, ₹ 1.5 lakh and ₹ 1.2 lakh, respectively, were insufficient to build a decent house, Mr. Kamath said.
As word spread, Good Samaritans in the locality came together and contributed different construction material, from cement to red stones, from door frames to window grills, and the like, Ms. Gopinath said. She had about 5 cents of land near the old cashew factory where a new, one-bedroom house with about 650 sq ft built-up area, has now come up.
Ms. Gopinath said that Mr. Kamath and MP Nalin Kumar Kateel inaugurated the house, named as Atal Nilaya, after the former Prime Minister late A.B. Vajpayee, on Sunday. “We have a traditional griha pravesha programme on May 16,” she said, thanking the MLA and local residents for their gesture. Ms. Gopinath is happy that she and now, her graduate daughter, have a permanent roof over their heads.
Mr. Kamath said that there are many like Geethakka in the city who do not have a pucca house. He urged such people to approach him to get housing benefits being offered by the Union and State governments.
However, such beneficiaries should own a piece of land to build their houses and their income should be within the prescribed limit. For beneficiaries from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities, the government allocation is up to ₹ 4 lakh, he said.
