The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : KHB begins site allotment through draw of lots

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 07, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

KHB begins site allotment through draw of lots

Staff Reporter

Subsidy for Ashraya houses increased to Rs. 40,000

LUCKY APPLICANT: A woman looking at the documents of a Karnataka Housing Board site allotted to her through a draw of lots in Bangalore on Tuesday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: The poor can now dream of having a home of their own in Bangalore, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said here on Tuesday. He said the Bangalore Development Authority had launched a Rs. 500-crore housing scheme in which sites would be reserved for the poor in layouts being developed by the BDA.

Mr. Kumaraswamy was speaking at the inauguration of the newly constructed commercial complex and Ranga Mandira of the Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) in Koramangala. He made a token allotment of sites by draw of lots in the Suryanagar and Kengeri projects of the KHB. He said petty traders; people who ran small businesses, autorickswaw drivers, hotel workers and daily wage workers would be given sites on priority.

The Chief Minister took officials to task for not working hard enough and not meeting people's expectations. This, he said, made the implementation of welfare schemes tardy, and ultimately it would be the people who suffered. "Some projects drag on for years. To rectify this, officials should be proactive and even seek changes in the rules and laws, if necessary, so that the projects will be completed within six months, or within a set timeframe."

He directed KHB officials to ensure a 20 per cent concession for the poor and a 10 per cent concession for people with disabilities in all housing projects and insisted that quality should also receive adequate attention in all projects.

Making it clear that there was no room for playing politics in the matter of housing for the poor and the underprivileged, Mr. Kumaraswamy said widows, destitute women and men and other such groups should be given preference while allotting houses.

Subsidy increased

The subsidy for Ashraya houses would be increased from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 40,000, the Chief Minister announced.

Mr. Kumaraswamy also used the occasion to give vent to his ire against officials who had not followed up on the petitions received at his Janata Darshans.

Housing Minister D.T. Jayakumar said the Government had decided that Karnataka would become a hut-free State by 2010 and a slum-free one by 2015. There were 13.5 lakh people without houses and 12 lakh without any form of shelter. All these people would be covered in a phased manner, he said.

Mr. Kumaraswamy later launched site allotment through a draw of lots. The two lucky women who were allotted sites were Vijayalakshmi and Lalithamma. Both received title deeds.

The function was attended by Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, Health Minister R. Ashok, KHB Commissioner Lakshminarayana and others.

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