5 lakh houses to be completed by April

HYDERABAD: Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has said five lakh houses will be constructed under various schemes in the state by the end of the current fiscal. The aim of the government is to make the state slumfree and ensure that every eligible poor family owns a house, he said.The chief minister on Sunday directed the collectors to complete the houses taken up under various schemes in their respective districts on a warfooting. An action plan was evolved to achieve the set target, he said.According to official figures, 5.93 lakh houses are at Lintel Level (LL) and Roof Level (RL). The construction of houses which are at Below Basement Level (BBL) and Basement Level (BL), will be expedited."I want collectors to expedite construction of houses which are at LL and RL. The performance of assistant engineers, deputy executive engineers, executive engineers and project directors of housing will be assessed based on the realisation of set targets," he said.The project directors of housing should review the progress of works in their respective districts on a fortnightly basis to achieve the target. They should also submit reports on the progress of housing works to the collector and the head office regularly.Bridge loans of Rs 20,000 (rural areas) and Rs 30,000 (urban areas) should be provided to beneficiaries for speedy completion of their houses. Additional financial assistance will be provided to SC and ST beneficiaries to complete their houses at the earliest. Housing AEs should visit each village once in a fortnight and record the stages of houses in the Mbook. The collectors should ensure timely release of funds to the beneficiaries to enable them to complete their houses as per schedule, he said.