Hyderabad: The 2BHK housing scheme may have become the buzzword in Telangana, but the Housing department is worried about its implementation in the state capital, considering bitter experiences from the past.
Even if the government builds 2-bedroom houses with necessary amenities, will the beneficiaries — likely to comprise slum dwellers, squatters who encroached on nalas, and BPL sections — be ready to move into such houses if built on the outskirts, is the question.
Most families eke out a living as daily wage labourers and it will be difficult for them to survive if they move to distant locations.
A senior official of the housing department cited an example to drive home the point: “A few years ago, squatters who had built huts encroaching the Ashok-nagar nala in the city were selected as beneficiaries for JNNURM houses built in Rampally near Keesara. Not a single family has moved in,” he said.
It is believed that nearly 23,000 houses constructed under JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission), Rajiv Gruha Kalpa and VAMBAY (Valmiki Ambed-kar Awas Yojana) in different parts of the city are lying unoccupied for quite some time.
With the government announcing its plans to construct one lakh units in the Greater Hyderabad limits alone, the city’s outskirts are the only alternative for construction as large tracts of government land is available.
What if the government builds two-bedroom houses in core areas of the city like it was done in Bhoiguda? “Only 400 houses were built in Bhoiguda and it required a small area,” the source stressed.
The department, however, does not foresee any hurdle in implementing the housing scheme in rural areas.
Each Assembly constituency has been allotted 1,000 two-bedroom houses for this year. Around 20 villages might be selected by a three-member committee comprising the district minister, local MLA and the collector with 50 new houses listed in each village in the first year.
Beneficiaries will be chosen in consultation with village committees so that there are no complaints. But even identifying beneficiaries will be an uphill task in Hyderabad.
Serpentine queues were witnessed in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy collectorates last week with hundreds submitting applications even before the government issued an invite.
Not only families belonging to the below poverty line category and people from the lower strata of the society, even low wage earners living in rental accommodations app-roached the collectorates to submit applications.
The department is yet to finalise guidelines as to how it will choose the one-lakh beneficiaries in the first year.
MeeSevas cash in on 2BHK forms
MeeSeva centres in Ranga Reddy district are charging more than the '25 stipulated by the government from applicants for the two bedroom housing scheme for the poor.
Since district officials had been receiving thousands of applications, collector M. Raghunandan Rao directed officials to issue approvals to MeeSeva units to collecting the forms.
MeeSeva centres can now collect applications, scan and send soft copies to the district administration. He directed MeeSeva units to collect Rs 25 as user charges for scanning, uploading, protecting the original applications etc.
But several MeeSeva units have been collecting Rs 10 to Rs 25 for the sale of forms apart from the user charges. Ms S. Sarala from Tandur mandal told this newspaper that there were no similarities in the forms given by different MeeSeva centres.
“The MeeSeva units are printing the forms along with their logo and address. They are not accepting forms sold by other MeeSeva units,” she said.
To this, Mr Raghunandan Rao said, “If anyone collects more than Rs 25 to receive applications, applicants can lodge a complaint over email to 2bhkrr@ gmail.com.”
The collector also advised applicants to collect proper receipts from the MeeSeva organisers after submitting their applications.
