Increase cost of construction of Jagananna housing scheme in Andhra Pradesh: CPI(M)

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has demanded that the State government restructure the cost of construction of Jagananna Housing Scheme in view of the steep rise in the cost of cement, steel, sand and other materials.

The CPI(M) opined that the cost of construction of each house should be revised to at least ₹5 lakh to ₹6 lakh, as against existing ₹1.80 lakh per unit.

CPI(M) State secretary V. Srinivasa Rao and others visited the Jagananna colonies across the State recently to assess the progress of the construction of houses.

Disclosing details at a press conference on Tuesday, Mr. Srinivasa Rao said that many of the beneficiaries were not willing to construct the houses at the cost estimated by the government. The cost of each house was estimated  to be around ₹1.80 lakh. Now, the construction cost of each house had gone up to ₹5 lakh. In this backdrop, the government should revise the estimates, and also take over the responsibility of construction, he said.

Mr. Srinivasa Rao said that not even  5% of the houses that were sanctioned were completed. The works on 15% to 20% houses were going at a snail’s pace. The quality of construction was poor, and the houses were not liveable. The government should take necessary steps to improve the quality of construction as well, he said.

Amma Vodi

Referring to Amma Vodi scheme, Mr. Srinivasa Rao alleged that the government had deliberately cut down the number of beneficiaries under the scheme. About 50,000 students were denied the benefits on the pretext of attendance, he alleged.

The government should have implemented the attendance rule from the current academic year instead of last year. The parents and students would be interested if they were given scheme benefits.

Also, the government claimed that 5 lakh out-of-school children were enrolled this year. It means, a total of 19 lakh students should be extended the benefits. But, five lakh to six lakh students were denied on some plea or the other. The government should reconsider its policies, he added.

CPI(M) State secretariat member Venkateswarlu also spoke.