The Central Government’s benevolent schemes of providing housing to urban slum-dwellers of Jharkhand appears to be either moving at snail’s pace or have reached the dead-end.
The schemes- Rajiv Awas Yojna (RAY) and Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) - were started to erase the existing slums from a city’s map and at the same time providing other basic amenities to the people inhabiting the area.
The ambitious plan of Central Government to construct houses for urban poor under Rajiv Awas Yojna (RAY) seems to have been put on back burner as the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation has not sanctioned the schemes as per the Ministry’s website. However, officials of the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) are shockingly not aware of this development.
“We conducted the survey and moved the proposal. It is under process,” said Deputy CEO of RMC Shailendra lal.
A Central government sponsored scheme, RAY, is expected to replace slums falling under the municipal areas in four districts of Jharkhand -Ranchi, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur and Chaas. Notably, houses in as many as five slums in RMC area is to be developed
at an estimated cost of Rs 8,562.362 lakh.
However, embarrassed by non-execution of RAY the state government can finally heave a sigh of relief due to some progress on BSUP. Finally there is ray of hope for slum dwellers that will be provided houses under BSUP. Construction work at Rugrigarha and Madhukam-Khadgarha despite initial hiccup seems to be heading towards completion.
The housing complex at Madhukam-Khadgarha which comprises as many as 352 units built in 22 G+3 blocks is likely to be ready by April 2014. “Almost 70 per cent of the work has been completed. So, possibly by April next year the units will be ready,” said Sanjay Singh, Supervisor of the site at Madhukam-Khadgarha.
Incidentally, the foundation stone for the construction work at both sites was laid by former Chief Minister Arjun Munda in 2011.
Notwithstanding the progress at two sites the RMC is still left with mammoth task of completing the project which envisages as many as 8,928 dwelling units at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore. Of the proposed units as many as 5000 beneficiaries will get individual dwelling units and the remaining beneficiaries will get 250 sqft units in the G+3 apartments.
“The project was started around 18 months back. As per the agreement the contractors are supposed to complete the work within 24 months,” said RMC PRO NK Sinha.