Govt Committed to Providing Pucca Houses to All Eligible Poor: Parthasaradhi

vijayawada: Housing Minister Kolusu Parthasaradhi said on Tuesday that the Andhra Pradesh government is committed to ensuring that every eligible poor family has a pucca house.

He said Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has given priority to housing by allocating adequate funds and providing higher central assistance.

Addressing the media at the secretariat, the minister said that between 2014 and 2019, the then Telugu Desam government approved 13.04 lakh houses and completed 8.04 lakh units at a cost of 10,194 crore. It also provided additional financial assistance of ₹712.83 crore to SC, ST and BC beneficiaries, including ₹50,000 per household for SC/ST families and ₹75,000 crore for tribal beneficiaries.

Criticizing the YSRC government, Parthasaradhi claimed that despite approving 18.61 lakh houses, it had completed only 6.70 lakh as of May 31, 2024, despite spending ₹9,588 crore. He accused the Jagan-led government of canceling 4.36 lakh houses approved during TDP’s tenure, causing difficulties for beneficiaries who had already invested their own money.

The minister said that the current government has accelerated housing construction after taking office in 2024. While getting approval for 86,714 houses under PMAY-Urban, PMAY-Gramin and PM-JANMAN schemes, it spent ₹2,102 crore to complete 4.56 lakh houses.

Of the 10.42 lakh applications received for new homes, around 9.5 lakh eligible beneficiaries were identified and the Center approved 74,812 houses in the first phase.

Kolusu Parthasaradhi said the government has strengthened financial support under PMAY, deployed 370 engineering assistants to expedite construction and will also implement the Polavaram rehabilitation housing scheme to ensure that all displaced families get permanent homes before the project is completed.