THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Corporation is struggling to find ways to house the ‘additional people’ of Karimadom Housing Colony, and might be relying on Prime Minister’s Awas Yojan to provide shelter to some of them. One of the people in question was a minor when his house was brought down for the third phase. He is now married and is technically eligible considering his financial background. However, the Corporation is finding it hard to find the money and space to build new apartments for all the beneficiaries.
The civic body has been conducting a survey of the space, but it has found it increasingly difficult to identify the most eligible beneficiaries. There are over a 100 people who have been claiming that they are eligible beneficiaries, according to the survey. An official says, “With the space that is available, apartments for not more than 40 people can be built. We are trying to see if this can be included in the PMAY project.”
The Karimadom project was launched in 2008. At the time, there were more than 500 beneficiaries. However, some ‘sold’ the houses to new people before leaving the colony, though the ownership cannot be transferred to new beneficiaries. Now, in certain cases, the Corporation has been able to allocate houses to both the original owners as well as the ones who came to stay. On Thursday, the officials held a meeting with Community Development Society. More interesting cases came to the fore.
There were five grandchildren laying claim to a house which was inherited by their father, when the grandfather who first settled at Karimadom passed away. “Not everyone can be given shelter. We need to find the ones who are most eligible. They may not be included in the BSUP or PMAY project, but later on it can be included in some other government scheme,” says an official.
