Housing success

Published : Jun 06, 2008 00:00 IST

A beneficiary of the Indiramma scheme at Purini.-BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

A beneficiary of the Indiramma scheme at Purini.-BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Efforts by the administration and the beneficiaries of the Indiramma housing programme have transformed Purini into a hutless village.

PURINI, a coastal village located 26 kilometres from Nellore, is turning out to be a model gram panchayat. The village has a population of over 3,200 people, most of whom belong to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. A survey, conducted to identify persons eligible for benefits under Integrated Novel Development in Rural Areas and Model Municipal Areas (Indiramma) Phase-I, has found that 328 of the 960 families living in the village do not have pucca houses. One of the main objectives of the State governments Indiramma programme is to provide assistance to hut- and slum-dwellers to build cost-effective and quality houses through the Andhra Pradesh State Housing Corporation Limited. The government plans to construct 60,00,000 houses in the State over three years in three phases with the active participation of the identified beneficiaries.

In Nellore district, 87,688 houses are proposed to be built under the first phase and 1,17,801 houses under the second phase, while preparatory work to begin the third phase is under way. The unit cost of a house under the programme in rural areas is Rs.25,000. Realising that this amount is insufficient, the government has given additional incentives (Rs.5,000 a beneficiary, for instance) to strengthen the foundation of houses built in low-lying areas and in places where the soil texture is loose. A sum of Rs.3,050 was sanctioned to each household to construct a latrine and Rs.2,000 was given to the S.Cs and the S.Ts under the Samagra Grameena Rozgar Yojana (SGRY).

The beneficiaries, who were willing to construct their own houses, were given Rs.3,200 each under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Further, an additional loan of Rs.10,000 was sanctioned to women beneficiaries belonging to self-help groups (SHGs).

The beneficiaries of Purini faced obstacles such as the high cost of bricks and non-availability of sand. They overcame this by negotiating with the brick manufacturers to supply bricks at reasonable rates and transported sand from the river Pennar. Each beneficiary was provided five truckloads of sand and the authorities even waived the tax.

Another problem the beneficiaries faced was shortage of steel and cement. CARE India, a Chennai-based voluntary organisation, donated 25 tonnes of Vizag Steel worth Rs.8 lakh to 200 beneficiaries to complete the laying of roof slabs. Steps have been taken by the government to supply cement at subsidised rates to the beneficiaries of Purini.

According to instructions from the government, the beneficiaries opened individual bank accounts and payments were directly credited to these accounts. However, the government has recently revised this procedure and payments are being made through SHGs in the presence of the village sarpanch and members of the Indiramma committee.

District Collector K. Ramgopal emphasised the importance of the Indiramma programme and called upon voluntary organisations and philanthropists to join hands in making the governments endeavour successful. Responding to the appeal, R. Rambabu, a former employee of the Revenue Department and former president of the District Non-Gazetted Officers Association, started creating awareness among the beneficiaries.

Former District Collector M. Ravi Chandra succeeded in developing a sense of collective responsibility towards the programme among district- and mandal-level officials. He and other officials made a night halt once a week in the earmarked villages to understand the ground realities and step up support and cooperation from lower-level officials. Prominent among them was I. Bhakthavatsala Reddy, tahsildar of Allur mandal and Special Officer of Purini gram panchayat, who has spared no effort to make the Indiramma programme a success in Purini. Both Bhakthavatsala Reddy and Rambabu joined hands to chalk out a programme to accelerate the process of house construction. They conducted gram sabhas to create awareness about the programme in all the habitations of Purini.

Their zeal created a lot of enthusiasm among the beneficiaries, who came forward to construct their own houses. The Special Officer encouraged them by disbursing the stage-wise payments promptly. Rambabus family even donated a piece of land to some of the S.C. and Backward Class beneficiaries who had no sites to construct houses.

In another instance, land measuring 3.5 cents was donated by Yeturi Ramalinga Reddy, a native of Indupur village, which enabled 30 S.C. beneficiaries to construct their houses. The District Collector and Joint Collector have taken steps to facilitate smooth transfer of land.

Meanwhile, the government has taken the initiative to provide Rs.2,000 under the SGRY scheme to all S.C. and S.T. beneficiaries. An additional loan of Rs.10,000 was sanctioned through banks to women beneficiaries, who are active members of SHGs.

In Purini, there were only 21 SHGs. However, the efforts of Rambabu has increased the number to 60. Banks, particularly the State Bank of Hyderabad, Pinakini Grameena Bank and Syndicate Bank at Allur, have sanctioned loans amounting to Rs.18 lakh to 186 members.

All these factors have contributed to the speedy construction of houses in Purini. Out of the 328 houses sanctioned for the village, 185 have been allotted to the S.Cs, 50 to the S.Ts, 78 to the B.Cs and 15 to other communities.

There are seven elementary schools, with a student strength of 166, and one upper primary school, with 78 students. Additional classrooms were constructed in the existing upper primary school at a cost of Rs.2.40 lakh under the Indiramma programme.

The Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (APTransco) provided power connections to 110 families at a cost of Rs.125 each under the Rajiv Grameena Vidyudheekarana Yojana, with a total expenditure of Rs.2.7 lakh.

Four Anganwadi centres in and around Purini supply nutritious food and provide health care to children and pregnant women.

A potable water facility has been provided under the Protected Drinking Water Scheme. Pensions were sanctioned to all 316 eligible beneficiaries physically handicapped persons (16), widows (41) and old-age pensioners (259).

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