Bhalki MLA and KPCC working president Eshwar Khandre has accused the BJP-led state government of indulging in discrimination in allotment of houses to beneficiaries under various government schemes in his Assembly constituency [Bhalki].
He was addressing a protest rally organised by the beneficiaries deprived of housing scheme at Bhalki taluk on Friday.
Mr. Khandre said that nearly 26,000 houses were allocated to provide adequate shelter to the homeless between 2013-14 and 2018-19 for Bhalki taluk alone, of which the construction of 14,000 houses was completed and 12,000 houses was at different stages of completion. The beneficiaries expected that PMAY would be a big help, but the inordinate delay in releasing the installments had made the scheme ineffective. Though the houses were allotted five years ago, the government had not released the installments yet, he said.
Taking the State government to task on the issue, Mr. Khandre said the government had released two instalments to few beneficiaries, but nearly 7,000 actual beneficiaries were still waiting for their installments. It was unfortunate that some political vested interests were deliberately withholding the funds sanctioned for the housing scheme, he said.
He alleged that the authorities concerned seemed to have turned a blind eye to the beneficiaries, Mr. Khandre said.
The protesters said that they would be forced to intensify the agitation, if the government failed to release the remaining installments to all the beneficiaries within a month.
