Many disabled yet to get allotted houses

Hyderabad: Needy disabled persons have been fighting for houses under government schemes since 1996. The government constructed 296 flats under JNNURM scheme in 18 blocks on 5.21 acres on city outskirts under Pocharam gram panchayat in 2010 and 28 beneficiaries were given flats.

As many as 1,800 disabled persons started their agitations in 1996 for houses. They then started building huts on government lands on the outskirts of Annoji-guda under Pocharam village, Rangareddy district.

During Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy's regime, the government issued orders to construct flats for them under JNNURM. The construction of ‘KL Mahender Nagar PHC colony’ complefed in April 2010.

As per JNNURM rules, the central government provides 50 per cent funds, state government's share is 20 per cent and beneficiaries should bear 30 per cent.
In two phases, 296 beneficiaries were selected. by the then Rangareddy district collector Praveen Prakash, officials directed them to pay Rs 2.25 lakh as their share. As most of the disabled were under BPL, they told the officials that they could pay the amount. The government asked them to pay Rs 22,500 initially and the remaining in equated quarterly installments (EQI) of Rs 7,000.

Only 28 paid the initial amount and the government allocated flats to them and remaining beneficiaries are still waiting for the government's decision for converting the initial payment and EQI into EMI @ Rs 500 per month on par with other state government housing schemes and established huts nearby the colony. And some of them have occupied some flats illegally.