THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Forest and Housing Minister Benoy Viswom has said that the Housing Department and the Kerala State Housing Board (KSHB) are finding the going tough on account of the heavy debt burden of the Housing Board and the meagre budget allocation for his department.

Mr. Viswom told a news conference here on Thursday that the Housing Board owed Rs.1,000 crore to the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) and the Housing Department had received a budget allocation of only Rs. 3.58 crore this year. "I have no words to describe the situation, but we are trying to do the best despite these problems," the Minister said while announcing grant of concessions totalling Rs. 29.75 crore to beneficiaries of various housing schemes meant for the weaker sections.

Mr. Viswom, who was accompanied by Principal Secretary (Housing) Lida Jacob, said the Housing Board had already paid off Rs. 100 crore of the total amount that it owed HUDCO, but must pay another Rs. 168 crore immediately.

"We are trying to get the loan repayment rescheduled. If that works out, we would be able to do a lot more," the Minister said and added that the State Government is happy that HUDCO had offered assistance for the Habitat Centre project despite the State owing it such a huge sum.

He said around Rs. 900 crore was due to the Housing Board from the beneficiaries of its various schemes.

It had collected Rs. 150 crore through a One-Time-Settlement (OTS) Scheme, he said.

Scheme extended

The scheme, which has benefitted around 45,000 persons, has been extended for three months from April 1. The concessions granted to the weaker sections would benefit around 60,000 persons.

The concessions included total waiver of arrears of all the beneficiaries under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) Housing Scheme in 1977 and waiver of loans of beneficiaries of the housing scheme for landless tenants (1981), the 1980 scheme of HUDCO, the housing loan scheme implemented through voluntary organisations in 1984, the housing loans given as part of Housing Board's flood relief programme in 1986 and that under the third and fourth stages of the rehabilitation housing scheme, Mr. Viswom said.

The Minister said the department has also decided to suspend revenue recovery measures against defaulters in Wayanad district in view of the agrarian crisis gripping the district.

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