Telangana govt to launch ‘Griha Lakshmi scheme’ for women

Telangana government under the new scheme will provide one-time grant of Rs 3 lakh to each beneficiary, to construct a house as per their needs

Hyderabad: Fulfilling the aspirations of the people to construct house in their own land, the State government on Thursday announced a new scheme – Griha Lakshmi. A one-time grant of Rs 3 lakh will be provided to each beneficiary under the scheme, to construct a house as per their needs. Necessary guidelines will be released shortly.

The State Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao at Pragathi Bhavan here, also decided to commence distribution of pattadar passbooks for Podu lands and also continue implementation of second phase of the Dalit Bandhu and the Sheep Distribution schemes.

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Briefing the mediapersons on the Cabinet decisions, Finance Minister T Harish Rao said as promised by the Chief Minister earlier, the State government will provide Rs 3 lakh each to a total 4 lakh beneficiaries under Griha Lakshmi scheme. Around 3,000 houses each in all 119 constituencies along with another 43,000 houses under State quota, have been sanctioned for the purpose.

“The houses under the scheme will be sanctioned only in the name of women beneficiaries where Rs 1 lakh each will be deposited into the bank account of the beneficiary in three installments. Around Rs 12,000 crore have been already allocated for the purpose in the State budget,” he said. He clarified that both the ongoing double bedroom houses and distribution of house plots will continue seperately.

The Cabinet also ratified the State government’s decision to waive off the loans availed by the beneficiaries under weaker section housing schemes during the tenure of the previous Congress and TDP governments in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. Around Rs 4,000 crore loans pertaining to nearly 30 lakh houses sanctioned by the previous governments, have been cleared by the State government, providing much relief to beneficiaries from banks.

Further, Harish Rao stated that the second phase of Dalit Bandhu scheme benefiting around 1.3 lakh families will be taken up shortly. About 1,100 beneficiaries each in all 118 constituencies amounting to total 1.29 lakh, have been sanctioned and the district collectors have been directed to commence the process. “As the scheme was sanctioned on August 16 of 2021, the Cabinet decided to host the Dalit Bandhu celebrations on the day annually from this year,” he added.

Further, the second phase of sheep distribution scheme will be launched in April and the targets will be completed by August this year. The government has sanctioned Rs 4,463 crore towards sheep distribution to more than 3.6 lakh beneficiaries across the State.

As announced by Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao, the forest officials have identified the genuine applicants for distribution of pattas for Podu lands. Accordingly, the Cabinet has decided to commence distribution of pattas pertaining to 4,00,903 lakh acres of land to 1,55,393 tribals. “The pattadar passbooks have been printed, village-level resolutions have been passed, and lands have been identified. This is a continuous process and new pattas will be issued as they are cleared,” the Minister said.

The Cabinet has decided to unveil the 125 feet statue of Dr BR Ambedkar coming up near the State Secretariat complete on April 14, marking his birth anniversary celebrations. Apart from inviting people from the SC and ST communities for the event, a massive public meeting also will be organised on the occasion.

Harish Rao said following increasing requests, the Cabinet has decided to extend the deadlines for submission of applications under GO 58 and 59 for one more month. Similarly, the cut off date has been enhanced from 2014 to 2020 to enable those who have already constructed houses, to get them regularies without any charges for the poor. “A total 1.45 lakh pattas have been issued under GO 58 and another 42,000 pattas have been sanctioned under GO 59,” he said.

Further, the State Cabinet has decided to construct a guest house complex at both Kasi in Uttar Pradesh and Sabarimala in Kerla, for the benefit of devotees from Telangana. It has also sanctioned Rs 25 crore each for construction of the guesthouses. While the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has already agreed to provide the necessary land, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao directed a team of Ministers, Chief Secretary and other officials to visit Uttar Pradesh soon and seek the required land for the purpose from the local government.

Meanwhile, Harish Rao informed that the works pertaining to the State Secretariat complex and Telangana Martyrs’ Memorial were nearing completion and they will be inaugurated before June this year. He also assured that even if the Centre does not procure, the State government will purchase paddy cultivated by farmers for the Yasangi season commencing from last week of April.