On the request of Congress State president Nand Kumar Patel, the central Government has increased the number of Indira Awas units for Chhattisgarh from 41,511 to 48004 for the year 2013-14.
This was informed by Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh in his letter to Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh. Releasing a copy of the letter to press Thursday, Congress state media cell in-charge Shailesh Nitin Trivedi termed this a step taken in the interest of poor people.
Trivedi also claimed that the UPA Government has separately approved 52,000 Indira Awas units for the forested areas of Chhattisgarh and has approved Rs5,21,84,00000 for the same.
The Union Government has also decided to raise the amount given for the construction of Indira Awas to Rs75,000 to benefit the poor, he added.
Notably, during the Chhattisgarh visit of Ramesh, both Patel and Dr Raman Singh had requested the central minister for review of the procedure of fixing the target of Indira Awas units for the State and also taking in to account the higher population of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and minorities as well as poverty ratio while taking decision on the issue.
Due to the efforts of Patel, now Chhattisgarh have got 6,500 more Indira Awas for the poor and houseless people, said Trivedi and added that the number of Indira Awas will increase for the State year on year.