Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday laid the foundation for over 50,000 houses to be constructed at a cost of Rs 1,830 crore in Guntur district. As many as 50,793 houses would be constructed in Krishnayapalem layout under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) – YSR BLC (U) scheme.
Located in the Assembly constituencies of Mangalagiri and Tadikonda, these houses will be constructed in the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) area in 1,400 acres as part of 25 layouts.
“Through this programme, I am laying the foundation for a social Amaravati which is for everyone. From today onwards, this Amaravati will be an Amaravati of all of us,” Reddy said.
Addressing a public meeting at Venkatapalem after laying the foundation, the Chief Minister said all the beneficiaries will given documents of their houses at 25 counters.
He said respective beneficiaries have been mapped to their volunteers and counters for the smooth handing over of the documents.
All the beneficiaries will be photographed in their respective plots and also geotagged, said Reddy.
According to the CM, the layouts where these thousands of houses are coming up will also have anganwadi centres, schools, shopping centres and parking facilities among others.
He noted that a majority of the beneficiaries chose the option to make the government build houses for them, which is expected to cost Rs 2.75 lakh per unit.
The CM highlighted that the state government gave 30.75 lakh housing sites to eligible poor people across the state while 22 lakh houses are under construction at various stages.
He said the foundation was laid for the project after overcoming several hurdles and alleged that TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, Jana Sena founder Pawan Kalyan and others tried to block the programme, including by going to court.
Calling them opponents of the poor, he said 18 cases were filed in the High Court and five in the Supreme Court against the distribution of houses to the poor and added that he managed to win the legal battles to go ahead with the project.
The Chief Minister observed that he is moving forward with the help of God and laying the foundation for their houses, calling the ceremony a victory for the poor.
Besides laying the foundation, Reddy also inspected a model house.