Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Housing scheme for SC/STs drifts

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A scheme launched by the government for providing houses for poor Scheduled Caste and Scheduled tribe families is feared to have drifted away from its objectives owing to lack of transparency in selecting beneficiaries.

The scheme aims at providing 5,000 houses at a cost of Rs.70,000 a unit in all the 14 districts of the State. A sum of Rs.35 crore was sanctioned for the scheme last year and equally allocated to the Kerala State Housing Board and the Nirmithi Kendra, the implementing agencies. Though the plan was to build the houses in a time-bound manner, there are complaints that it is moving at a snail’s pace due to poor coordination.

Local self-government institutions, entrusted with the task of selecting the beneficiaries by convening grama sabhas, took the lead in preparing a list of 5,000 beneficiaries from all the districts as directed by the government. While the process was on, around 500 beneficiaries opted out of the scheme for more lucrative ones that offered up to Rs.90,000 to each family, sources said.

According to the rules, the funds should be released to the beneficiaries in instalments at various stages of completion. Civic chiefs said that when 500 beneficiaries opted for other schemes, a new list was prepared by officials in an arbitrary manner in violation of the rules and procedures.

Instead of selecting the beneficiaries in a transparent manner, the list was allegedly drawn up by the officials without taking the civic chiefs, elected members or the beneficiaries into confidence. The list thus drawn up by the officials is feared to defeat the objectives of the scheme. For, it is likely to create duplication and the ineligible may find a place in it. The executing officials of the State-wide scheme are reported to have concentrated on certain districts only, sources said.

This selection process is pointed out to be against the spirit of decentralisation of powers to the local bodies and would lead to corrupt practices. Since grama sabhas are the best forum for identifying the needs in each locale, they should be involved in executing the scheme in a transparent manner, sources said.

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