Hyderabad: Ramya, primarily a domestic worker at five houses in the locality, also doubles at a puja items store in Nallakunta. The only breadwinner in her family she has been providing for her bedridden husband, with critical health issues, and her two sons, for the past year. She has been working tirelessly for several years to provide quality education for her children.
After spending Rs one lakh in the last month to meet her husband’s hospital expenditure, she received great news this week. She has been selected as a beneficiary under the state’s 2BHK housing scheme, rebranded as Indiramma Illu by the Congress government.
For the past few days, people have been receiving calls from government officials asking them to take possession of the 2BHK houses allotted to them at Kollur Dignity Housing Colony in Ramachandrapuram mandal of Sangareddy district.
2BHK allotment under previous regime
Though the beneficiaries are under the impression that they were allotted the houses under the Indiramma Illu they applied for during Praja Palana, the Congress’ guarantees campaign, Telangana Housing Board officials have claimed that the applications were short-listed during the previous regime. However, the beneficiaries had not occupied their allotted flats in the housing colony.
According to the superintending engineer of Telangana Housing Board, Venkata Das Reddy, there were a total of 15,600 2BHK apartments built in Telangana’s Kollur, of which only 7,000 flats have been occupied till now.
The administration has been attempting to communicate with the beneficiaries asking them to immediately occupy their allotted houses, or yield to someone else to take ownership of the 2BHK houses, he told Siasat.com.
These houses have been built jointly by the state and the central governments under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana’s (PMAY) urban housing component.
The housing colony which is spread across 117 blocks covering an area of around 140 acres, was inaugurated by former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao in June 2023.
However, with the election code coming into effect, and the transition of power in the state and Lok Sabha elections, a majority of the flats were left unoccupied. Now the Congress government is inviting the beneficiaries of the scheme to occupy their flats.
Incomplete 2BHK homes in Telangana
Housing officials are also deliberating on whether beneficiaries could be allocated incomplete 2BHK towers left unfinished by the previous government, allowing them to take ownership and complete the construction themselves.
The housing board had requested contractors to finish the structures, but there has been no positive response.
Hyderabad: GHMC recieves 10.71 L applications for Indiramma houses
“If the contractor completed the foundation and slabs but left the rest unfinished, the amount paid to the contractor for each house can be deducted, and the remaining funds can be given to the beneficiary to complete the construction,” said Reddy.
However, this decision is yet to be finalised.
Indiramma Illlu to be delayed?
On the Indiramma Illu front, the beneficiaries may have to wait a little longer, as the identification of beneficiaries under the GHMC limits is still ongoing with the comprehensive socio-economic, political, caste, education and employment survey yet to conclude, claimed officials.
According to housing officials, due to the MLC elections code in force, the names of the beneficiaries of Indiramma Illu in the rural areas are not being announced. Though the counting of votes for the MLC elections will be completed by March 3, if the schedule for the local body elections is announced immediately after that, the process of disclosing the beneficiaries could be further delayed.
On January 26, the state government identified beneficiaries in one village per mandal across the state, officially kick-starting the Indiramma Illu scheme.
