As per reports, as many as 1,600 thatched houses in villages across the State are being turned into concrete houses every day.
Sources said an amount of Rs2 crore was spent on a daily basis during 2014-15 to complete 3.50 lakh pucca houses under the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) and the Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana (BPGY).
The Panchayati Raj Department has set a target to construct seven lakh concrete houses during 2015-16. Panchayati Raj Minister Arun Sahu has been reviewing the progress of the housing projects by conducting field visits.
Reports show that while during 2014-15, as many as 3.2 lakh IAY and 30,000 BPGY houses were completed by October 31, more than 3.40 lakh housing units have been completed and all-out efforts are on to complete seven lakh more units by March 31, 2016.
While there is a tremendous demand for IAY and BPGY houses, still a number of beneficiaries are backing out after receiving the first instalment of funds for constructing a house.
This has been the result of lack of awareness among the beneficiaries, feel officials. “looking at these problems, steps were taken to sort out the issues and it has yielded results,” said a consultant engaged for rural housing projects.
He informed that the amount for first instalment was reduced to Rs20,000 from Rs30,000 to prevent diversion of fund while the third instalment amount has been increased to Rs15,000 from Rs10,000. This is helping the beneficiaries and the rate of diversion has gone down,” said the sources.