Strategy on ‘Housing for All’ presented to Odisha govt

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Aug 10:

In an attempt to provide affordable housing for lower-income groups and slum dwellers as promised in its election manifesto, the Odisha Government convened a meeting of Odisha Housing Mission at the Secretariat today to discuss a strategy formulated for the purpose.

The first ever meeting of the Odisha Housing Mission Chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and attended by Housing Mission Chief Pratap Deb and Urban Development Minister Pushpendra Singhdeo decided to formulate a special policy and present the bill to the cabinet for approval following which the mission will be implemented.

“Today, we placed a special policy for the perusal of the Chief Minister. We will enact the policy soon after the Chief Minister reviews it from all possible angles and gives it his approval. The decision will be beneficial for economically weaker sections (EWS), low-income group (LIG) and people living in slum areas,” said UD Minister Singhdeo.

“The State government will implement the scheme in coordination with the union government’s ‘Housing for All’ programme. The central government will spend Rs 1.5 lakhs on the construction of each house. The state government and the concerned urban body will take care of the rest,” he added.

As per information provided by the minister, the beneficiaries would be identified based on their income group. In the first phase, an income of Rs 1,80,000 per annum has been set as the cap for the EWS  and an income of Rs 3,60,000 per annum has been the limit for LIG section.

“We had made a promise to provide ‘Housing for All’ in our last election manifesto. Today we worked out a strategy and presented it to the Chief Minister on behalf of the Housing and Urban Development department. We are soon going to initiate action on this,” said BJD Spokesperson and Odisha Housing Mission Chief Pratap Deb.