Banglar Awas Jojana: Another 54 lakh houses to be constructed

Howrah: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced the construction of another 54 lakh houses under the Banglar Awas Yojana.

This comes when the Mamata Banerjee government has ensured setting up of 51 lakh houses under the scheme since 2011.

The Chief Minister directed the concerned officers including the additional chief secretary of the state Panchayat and Rural Development department MV Rao to ensure transparency in the process by centrally supervising the implementation of the project.

"It has to be ensured that genuine beneficiaries do not get deprived from the scheme. It should not happen that a person, who owns a four storeyed building, also gets benefitted out of the scheme," the chief minister said.

It needs mention that Rs 5,384 crore was proposed in the state budget for the 2021-22 fiscal for the project. Under the rural housing programme, around 38.31 lakh houses were constructed at an expenditure of Rs 47,097 crore in between 2010-11 and 2020-21. It includes 8.80 lakh houses in 2020-21 fiscal, which was the highest among all states in the country.

Banerjee has also directed Pulak Roy, who has also been given the responsibility of the Panchayat and Rural Development department (P and RD) after the death of Subrata Mukherjee, to ensure daily monitoring of the work of P and RD and Public Health Engineering (department). "Both the departments are crucial. Besides doing the party's work, you have to ensure daily close monitoring of both the departments," Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.

She has also stated that the work of tap water connection in all 1.77 crore households in the state would be completed by March 2024.