Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan reddy said his Government will distribute house site pattas to the poor on December 25. The sites devoid of court litigation will be distributed, and construction of houses for the poor will also begin the same day.

The government will start a week-long campaign from December 23 asking beneficiaries of TIDCO houses to choose from the housing scheme of former government and the present government. “Volunteers will explain both the schemes and take the beneficiaries’ opinions. Under Naidu’s scheme, a beneficiary has to pay Rs 7 lakh to get ownership of the house. However, under our scheme, the government will allocate 300 sq ft houses to the beneficiaries through the agreement of sale by paying just one rupee”.

AP CM YS Jagan announced on Wednesday during the Spandana review programme with district collectors that the first phase of the housing scheme will construct 15 lakh houses at a cost of Rs 1.80 lakh each, without compromising on quality, adding that the houses will be given to the beneficiaries free of cost.  Jagan also said that “We have identified 30.68 lakh beneficiaries so far. Though we launched the programme just three months after coming to power, it could not progress as some vested interests went to court. House sites in litigation-free areas will be distributed with D forms on December 25”.

The Chief Minister stated that the government has to wage a legal battle to give house sites to the poor because of the conspiracies of the Opposition parties. “Those in power earlier gave away huge chunks of land to industrialists, but are creating trouble when we are giving a cent of land to the poor,” he said, and added that the government will emerge victorious in its good intentions. The Chief Minister stated that the government acquired 66,518 acres of land worth Rs 23,000 crore for house sites for the poor. The government will allot house sites within 90 days to eligible beneficiaries who apply afresh, he said, and added that 1.20 lakh new beneficiaries were added to the scheme, for which 80,000 more acres would be acquired.

“Complete the process of land acquisition and allotment to beneficiaries by December 10. Geo-tagging of house sites should be completed by December 25,” Jagan told the Collectors, and asked them to take steps to get the court stay orders vacated where ever the land is under litigation.

The Chief Minister also said about the TIDCO housing, the previous government left a debt of Rs 3,200 crore for constructing 2,62,216 houses, of which 1,43,600 houses of 300 sq ft, 44,300 houses of 365 sq ft, and 74,300 houses of 430 sq ft are under construction. “So far, the State government cleared debts of Rs 1,200 crore, and the rest will be cleared soon in two phases. Besides this, the TDP government left a debt of Rs 1,432 crore for rural housing, of which Rs 470 crore will be cleared this week and the rest on December 25”.

The government would spend Rs 2,500 crore in three years to provide basic infrastructure at TIDCO houses and the tendering process for the same will end by December 15, he added. To complete the project within 3 years, the government will spend Rs 9,550 crore.