Andhra Pradesh: Seven years on, beneficiaries of PM Awas Yojana in Ongole still wait for their dream home

Over 7,000 beneficiaries keep their fingers crossed as only 75% of the construction work has been completed so far by the Andhra Pradesh TIDCO

To realise his long-felt dream of a house of his own, 50-year-old Venkateswara Rao, a teacher in a private school in Ongole, applied for a flat under the Housing for All programme launched by the Union and State Governments. His happiness knew no bounds when he was allotted a housing unit by the civic body in 2017 under the Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana.

He took a loan of ₹5 lakh from a bank hoping to save on house rent and pay the equated monthly instalment. But seven years later, his dream of a house of his own still remains uncompleted.

Like Mr. Venkateswara Rao, over 7,000 beneficiaries keep their fingers crossed as only 75% of the construction work has been completed so far by the Andhra Pradesh Township and Infrastructure Development Corporation(TIDCO), the agency that is tasked with the construction of houses under the PM Awas Yojana scheme.

The promised infrastructure facilities like roads, drains, water and electricity had not been put in place so far, laments yet another beneficiary S. Vijayalakshmi, after visiting her unfinished flat in the apartment complex. The State Government introduced the ‘gated community’ concept for the first time under urban poor housing programme.

They want Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to ensure repayment of loan component by the State Government as promised before the 2019 elections.

Communist Party of India State Secretary K. Ramakrishna urged the government to speed up creation of civic infrastructure and hand over TIDCO houses to the beneficiaries in places where they had been completed.

The CPI volunteers would organise a State-wide agitation between December 5 and 10 to exert pressure on the government to complete the houses on a war footing in Ongole and other places where the construction work still on, added CPI district secretary M.L. Narayana.