Chief Minsiter Naveen Patnaik on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking assistance for construction of five lakh pucca houses in the Cyclone Fani-hit districts in the State.
Patnaik requested for sanction of 5 lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin special houses in 14 districts.
The Chief Minister further appealed to the PM to consider the cost of unit assistance to be shared between the Centre and State in the ratio of 90:10 instead of the usual 60:40 (as is conditional for plain areas). He also reiterated his request to waive off the Permanent Wait List (PWL) criterion for this particular allocation.
“Monsoon is likely to touch the Odisha coast on June 10. Keeping in view the exigency of pucca houses for cyclone-hit victims, the State Government has issued the work orders for construction of five lakh houses from June 1. Hence, Central support is needed at the earliest,” Patnaik’s letter read.
Notably, the Chief Minister had on Sunday announced construction of 5 lakh pucca houses for those families whose dwellings have been completely or substantially damaged in the cyclone.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had earlier on April 30 ordered advance release of financial assistance of Rs 340.875 crore for Odisha in view of the forecast for Fani. The Prime Minister had also announced an immediate assistance of Rs 1,000 crore during his visit to the cyclone-hit areas of the State on May 6.