Kuchha houses to be made pucca in rural areas
To translate the ruling BJD’s poll promises into action, the State Government on Thursday launched a Rs 3,000-crore new housing scheme after the name of former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik in place of the existing Mo Kudia scheme to provide higher financial assistance to the beneficiaries to convert their kuchha houses to pucca structures as part of the integrated shelter-for-all scheme.
The BJD in its election manifesto-2014 had announced that every household in the State should have a pucca house.
Announcing the Biju Pucca Ghar scheme, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the old Mo Kudia Yojana would be subsumed into the new expanded scheme. Patnaik said the Mo Kudia scheme is merged with the new one, and the annual budget provision of the new scheme would be substantially enhanced from Rs 330 crore to around Rs 3,000 crore in a phased manner.
“We are planning to strengthen manpower both at the gram panchayat and block levels to effectively implement this huge initiative,” he said.
The existing Mo Kudia scheme, a State Government programme, is being implemented with a plan outlay of Rs 330 crore during the current fiscal for providing dwelling houses to rural poor below poverty line, who are deprived of getting the IAY (Indira Awas Yojana) houses. In a bid to further empower rural women, Patnaik said, “The house under the new scheme will be sanctioned in the name of women of the household.