Own House For Every Poor Family By 2029: CM Naidu

ANANTAPUR: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has reaffirmed that the alliance government’s goal is to ensure every poor family owns a house by 2029 and announced that 5.90 lakh housewarming ceremonies would be held during Ugadi festival next year.

As part of the mass housewarming ceremony across the state held on Wednesday to hand over 3 lakh houses to poor beneficiaries, the chief minister inaugurated the houses in online mode from Devagudipalle village in Chinnamandem mandal of Annamayya district on Wednesday. Naidu personally handed over house keys to several beneficiaries and issued building permissions to those owning plots.

The CM first joined the gruhapravesam of beneficiary Hemalatha family and later took part in the puja rituals. He presented new clothes to Hemalatha and her husband Eshwar.

Later, Naidu visited the residence of another beneficiary, Shaik Mumtaz Begum, and participated in the Namaz after the housewarming ceremony. He presented new clothes to Mumtaz Begum’s family and inquired about the welfare schemes being extended to them.

During the visit, Mumtaz’s husband, Mohammed Sharif who works abroad, interacted with the CM via video call and expressed his gratitude to the government.

Naidu stated, “Yesterday we inaugurated an MSME park in Kanigiri; and today we are giving homes to the poor. It’s a matter of great happiness. The alliance government is working to fulfill the dream of a home for every poor family. A house is not just four walls—it is dignity, happiness, safety and security for a family”.

He recalled that former chief minister NT Rama Rao laid the foundation for permanent housing in India in 1984.

Though the previous YSRC government pushed the state into financial bankruptcy, “we completed 3 lakh houses within 17 months of returning to power -- 2.28 lakh houses under PMAY-BLC, 65292 houses under PMAY-Gramin, and 6866 houses under PMAY-Janman, making a total of 3,00,192 completed houses,” he said.

Naidu said, “Between 2014 and 2019, we completed 8 lakh houses at a cost of `16,000 crore. The previous government destroyed the poor man’s dream of owning a home. It canceled plans for 4.73 lakh houses and kept `900 crore unpaid to 2.73 lakh beneficiaries.”

The Chief Minister made it clear that the alliance government would clear these pending dues.

The previous government, he said, crippled the housing sector and allotted uninhabitable sites to the poor and left houses incomplete. “The YSRC turned the housing scheme into a scam, indulged in corruption even in land leveling, and looted crores even from sand. Despite receiving funds from the Centre, they did not provide matching grants, halting development.”

“This is a government for the poor, and we are working tirelessly to ensure justice for them,” Naidu said

The CM said that under the Jal Jeevan Mission, the Centre planned to provide safe tap water to every household, but the previous government failed to supply even Pulivendula. “Soon, we will ensure drinking water for Pulivendula as well. As promised during elections, we implemented Super Six guarantees.”

He noted that under the Deepam scheme, women were receiving three free gas cylinders. “We have restored pensions, Amma Vandanam and free bus travel for women.”

Naidu said that in 17 months, the alliance government signed MoUs worth over `10 lakh crore in investments. Another `10 lakh crore worth of MoUs would be signed at the upcoming Visakhapatnam CII summit. “We are committed to creating 20 lakh jobs.”

The chief minister said, “River interlinking is my life’s mission. Once the Ganga–Cauvery linkage is achieved, drought would be history in India. I have never neglected irrigation projects. We will make Andhra Pradesh a drought-free state.”

Ministers Kolusu Parthasaradhi, Mandipalli Ramprasad Reddy, BC Janardhan Reddy and senior officials from the housing department participated in the event.