Bhubaneswar: Ashok Kumar Meena, Principal Secretary Panchayatiraj and Drinking Water has said Rural Housing had made headway in Odisha with completion of more than 31.08 lakh houses over the last six years.
Principal Secretary, Mr.Meena outlined the issues for discussion in the review meeting chaired by Chief Secretary S C Mahapatra.
Reviewing the progress of rural housing schemes like Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awass Yojana ( Grameen), Pucca Ghar Yojana (mining), Nirman Shramik (construction workers) Pucca Ghar Yojana, and Mastya Jeebi (Fishermen) Basagruha Yojana, the Chief Secretary directed officials to allot pucca houses to all 8,575 eligible families under primitive and vulnerable tribal groups ( PVTGs) category in a time bound manner.
CS also advised Principal Secretary Revenue and Disaster Management to issue suitable instructions for allocation of homestead land to landless families by simplifying and leveraging provisions under different schemes.
The Collectors were asked to allot them the land where they were staying to the extent possible.
It was emphasized that the poor landless people in all fitness of the things should be brought under the rural housing scheme.
Review showed that 31, 08, 471 houses allotted to beneficiaries under different schemes were completed and 1,75,960 houses were at different stages of construction.
CS directed to facilitate these beneficiaries through field level contact, and resolve the problems, if any faced by them, for speedy construction of the houses.
Around 39,198 beneficiaries found eligible for rural housing schemes were landless. Out of them 2,326 families were allotted land and the cases of remaining families were under consideration as many of them were staying on objectionable lands.
Further, considering the case of mining workers in mine areas, the Chief Secretary directed the PR and DW department to make a survey of the housing requirement for the mine workers staying in hamlets.
The departments of Steel and Mines and PR and DW were asked to work out the modalities for building pucca houses for them in the shape of mining colonies.
The case of the families displaced for irrigation, infrastructural projects, and the families taken out of the reserve forest were also discussed in the meeting.
CS directed to include such types of families under rural housing on priority basis.
Discussions in the meeting showed that around 12.25 lakh families who were found otherwise eligible through field enquiry should be included under PAMY for which Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had requested the Government of India to open the PMAY portal for a month.
Opening of the portal for a month would be a definite step towards pucca ghar for all on saturation mode.