Notwithstanding the postponement of hearing by the Supreme Court on Amaravati capital issue till December, the Jagan Mohan Reddy government decided to go ahead with the construction of houses for the poor in the capital region.
The state cabinet, which met at secretariat on Wednesday decided that Jagan will perform bhoomi puja on July 24 for the construction of 47,000 houses for the poor in 1366 acres of R-5 zone of Amaravati capital region of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority with an expenditure of Rs 5,000 crore.
The houses were in fact proposed to be constructed under PM Awas Yojana for which the centre had given green signal in the last week of June.
The central sanctioning and monitoring committee (CSMC) of the Union finance ministry gave the green signal for the construction of 47,000 houses in R-5 zone of Amaravati.
However, the Centre later withheld the approval, saying the issue was in the Supreme Court, which said the distribution of pattas and construction of houses would be subject to the final judgement of the high court and it would not amount to permanent title deeds for the beneficiaries.
As a result, Jagan who wanted to take up the foundation laying ceremony on July 8, coinciding with his father late Y S Rajasekhar Reddy’s birth anniversary, deferred the move. But now, suddenly, the cabinet took a decision to conduct Bhoomi puja on July 24.
What is interesting is that the total cost of the project was estimated at Rs 700 crore for 47,000 houses at the cost of Rs 1.5 lakh per house. But going by the cabinet decision, the cost of construction was pegged at Rs 5,000 crore. There is no answer as to why there is so much difference in the cost.
Maybe, Jagan wants to lay foundation stone for the houses to get immediate political benefit, but the actual construction might start only after the court verdict and release of funds from the Centre.
In any case, the state government said the construction is going to take place at a rapid pace by using shear wall technology, so that the houses would be ready in three to four months, fetching huge political benefit to the ruling YSR Congress party!
