Allotment of double bedroom housing units might have been one major factor among others, which had impacted the outcome of recent elections to the Telangana State Legislature.
Reliable sources from the State government inform that the requests for free housing under the double-bedroom scheme constitute a sizeable portion of the applications being received under the ‘Praja Vani’ programme daily at Praja Bhavan.
Huge discrepancy prevails in terms of the number of 2BHK homes allotted, between the claims of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and the actual number handed over to the beneficiaries in the city.
As per the State government’s communique before elections, a total of 61,884 units have been handed over to the beneficiaries across various locations in the city so far. A total one lakh housing units were proposed for the city as per the initial concept note, of which over 96,000 were launched at 101 locations.
While a large number of units were completed in all respects two years ago, selection of beneficiaries, and final distribution was taken up only a few months before elections. Beneficiaries were reported to have been chosen through draws of lots conducted at the respective district collectorates.
According to sources from the State government, contrary to the GHMC’s claims, only 28,012 units have been actually allotted to the beneficiaries so far, which is less than 30 per cent of the total dwellings proposed. Officials from the GHMC, however, claim that all the units with them have been allotted.
“There is a time lag between allotment and updating the same in the digital records, which could be the reason behind the gap,” says an official. Outside the city too, allotment has been very poor, owing to several local factors.
As per the data submitted by the State government to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs during May this year, more than 2.2 lakh housing units across the State have been completed and ready for distribution. However, the latest data available from October shows that only 96,570 dwellings have been allotted so far, against the total 2,92,938 proposed across the State including those from GHMC.
“In our village, the housing complex has been ready for two years now. Fights erupt every time there is any talk about allotment. People complain that the ruling party cadre are getting all the units,” says Vijayamma, from Gudur village of Palakurthi mandal, Jangaon district.
Now, the housing units are being used by the village’s landlords to dry and store paddy crop, she says.
