Govt to build one lakh houses for poor

Will also establish Chhattisgarh Trade Centre in about 100 acres of land in Naya Raipur

House passes Rs 614 crore-budgetary demands for Commerce & Industries, Housing & Environment and Transport departments through voice vote

Raipur, March 26, 2012

The government will construct about one lakh houses for poor living above poverty line (APL) under its ambitious scheme - Atal Vihar Yojna (AVY). “All the basic facilities including road, electricity, schools, hospitals, etc will be provided to the residents under AVY, an apparent indicator of government’s effective housing policy,” informed Commerce & Industries, Housing & Environment and Transport Minister Rajesh Munat while demanding budgetary grants for his departments at state Assembly on Monday. The House passed the budgetary demands of Rs 614 crore for these departments through voice vote.

Munat informed that the estimated cost of AVY housing project is about Rs 11800 crore. In budget, there is a provision of Rs 50 crore for this project. He informed that the APL families would also get Rs 40000 to Rs 80000 subsidy to buy AVY houses.

He claimed that his government had revolutionised the housing sector through Chhattisgarh Hosing Board (CHB). “The CHB has provided possession of 48000 new houses to its customers by far,” he informed.

On Naya Raipur project he said that the people from whom lands had been acquired for the project would be rehabilitated properly.

“The Naya Raipur will be organised and beautiful like Chandigarh, Gandhidham and Bhubaneshwar. The power and sewer lines will be underground. There will be a provision of railway station. For greenery, Environment department has planted about two lakh saplings there. Besides, 65 city buses will be plied from Raipur to Naya Raipur,” he added.

“Moreover, houses for state ministers will be constructed in Naya Raipur. First, houses for Chief Minister and Governor will be constructed for which there is a provision of Rs five crore in the budget 2012-13,” he said.

“The government will also provide night shelter facility to the homeless people in Naya Raipur. There will be 224 beds in the Rs eight crore-night shelter building. For this, there is a provision of Rs one crore in the budget 2012-13,” he said.

He said the government would also establish Chhattisgarh Trade Centre in about 100 acres of land in village Tuta in Naya Raipur. “In this centre, the government will organise Rajyotsav as well as industrial and trade fairs.

On environment, he said the BJP government had taken several measures to check pollution through regular monitoring and by ensuring installation of electro-static precipitators (ESPs) in industries. “As on 2005, there were 61 industries but only 30 had installed ESPs. Presently, all the industries have installed ESPs,” he said.

When BSP legislator Saurabh Singh pointed that despite installing ESP, many industries do not start it, the minister clarified that the ESPs had been directly connected to the meters to prevent any manipulation from industrial units.

He termed the proposed Railway corridor as the most significant project for Chhattisgarh’s development. “There will be massive development in the areas through which the corridor would be built,” he said.

On transport department, he informed that soon a smart card-based scheme would be started to issue computerised vehicle registration certificate and driving licence.

On Industries department, he said the government would encourage people from SC and ST communities to establish their own production units. “For this, there is a provision of Rs six crore in the budget which would be given to the beneficiaries as partial grant,” he added.

He informed the House that 126 industrial units had been established by the SC and ST people in 2011-12.

“Similarly, in past one year, 942 industries were established in the state and about 7500 people from the state were recruited in these units,” he said. The BJP legislator Bheema Mandavi interrupted him and pointed that despite promised by NMDC, the local were not being recruited. Another BJP MLA Dr Krishnamurthy Bandhi suggested Industries department should conduct campus recruitment in the state colleges to give maximum job opportunities to state youth.

The minister informed the House that considering concerns of opposition and common people regarding agricultural land deals by industrialists, the government had fixed land rates. “These rates are 12 time of the previous rates. Now the rate of barren land will be Rs six lakh, non-irrigated lands – Rs eight lakh and irrigated lands – Rs ten lakh,” he added.

He further informed that the project of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) had been commenced in Rajnandgaon. “Similarly, land acquisition procedures for proposed Metal Park will be started soon,” he said.

The MLAs who participated in the debate for demand for budgetary grants were Deepak Patel, Devji Bhai Patel, Saurabh Singh, Nandkumar Sahu, Virendra Kumar Sahu and Domanlal Korsewada.