Post News Network
Cuttack, Sept 4: The state government will soon take steps to provide concrete houses to the city’s slum dwellers.
The decision was taken at a review meeting on Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and the state’s housing-for-all scheme here recently.
The government will provide a financial assistance of `2 lakh to each slum dweller of the city who own land. Each beneficiary will have to spend `1 lakh from their own source for the construction of concrete houses.
“The state government will facilitate bank loans to those slum dwellers who have land but fail to arrange `1 lakh for the scheme,” Housing and urban development department Joint secretary-cum-shelter mission director Sachin Ramchandra Jadhav said after meeting officials.
Collector Nirmal Chandra Mishra, Cuttack Municipal Commission commissioner Gyana Das and district administration and civic body officials also attended the meeting.
The state government will also build several four-storey buildings in the city to rehabilitate the slum dwellers having no landed property.
“The district administration requires at least 50 acre land in the city and its outskirts for constructing apartment like buildings for the slum dwellers. The Cuttack Development Authority (CDA) has so far identified 30 acre for the project. Tehsildars of Cuttack Sadar, Barang and Tangi-Choudwar have been directed to identify 20 acre land,” Mishra said.
A rental housing scheme in the silver city is also on the anvil. The government will build residential buildings and rent them out to migrant workers.
“Dormitories and separate rooms for families will be constructed under the rental housing scheme. Married workers will be allocated rooms while unmarried ones can share dormitories,” Mishra said.
The decision to build dormitories and rooms under the rental housing scheme at Jagatpur has already been taken.
“Several firms are operating in Jagatpur industrial estate. Workers from far-flung places are working in these firms. The district collector had urged the government to select Jagatpur for the implementation of the scheme,” said a district administration official.
CMC sources said altogether 1.2 lakh people of 35,000 families are residing in 264 slums in the city. The slums witness regular scuffles between the residents and police personnel during eviction drives.
