The Andhra pradesh government brought positive news for the poor people
Ambitious Targets for Housing Construction
One of the most popular and essential figures in the modern administration Minister Kolusu Parthasarathy declared the construction of 1. 2 lakh houses within just 100 days of its launch,” added Mr. Barve without missing the pulse of the current financial year which is also the last year of this term of the government. This is a towards a larger goal, where the government has envisaged that it will construct some 7 lakh houses in the future. They are an indication of a spirited attempt by the government to meet the housing short calls of the needy as soon as possible.
Criticism of the Previous Government’s Housing Policies
Housing was one of the areas that Minister Parthasarathy focused on when the committee was reviewing the housing department recently. He accused the former administration of procuring land for construction of houses without proper identification of the land for housing . This, he said, posed a major problem to the beneficiaries, who were left with house units in less than desirable areas.
Parthasarathy also alleged that the previous governments’ policies had a strong politico biases, which hampered the execution of housing schemes. He noted that during the period 2014-2019 housing construction was virtually commercialized rather than being viewed as a genuine act of public welfare. In his opinion this was so with regard to the procurement of land as well as implementation of housing development projects.
Measures to Address Past Issues
To address problems of the previous administration, the current Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu has initiated several actions that would overcome these problems. Among them, there is the policy of paying monetary compensation to people who fell under the bad housing policies of the preceding government. This is a measure that would prevent the challenges among the beneficiaries of the government’s housing program and express faith and confidence in the program.
Minister Parthasarathy clarified that the Naidu administration will maintain scrupulous business Ethics when it comes to construction of houses for the needy and that it will be highly sensitive to the quality of the construction. This commitment to quality is viewed as necessary for the construction of sustainable and safe housing for the poor for the poor, so that they can get decent homes that will sustain their needs.
Financial Assistance and New Construction Policies
For the construction of new houses, the Andhra Pradesh government with the support of the Central government has assured a large financial help package. For the construction of new homes new eligible households shall be given Rs. 4 lakh for the construction of the new house and further Rs. 30000 shall be provided under the employment guarantee scheme for helping in the construction.
Besides financial assistance, Minister Parthasarathy also revealed the availability of the new policy on ‘Material Management for House Construction. This policy entails replacing the customary soil with fly ash and can provide handsome benefits in terms of the environment and costs. Fly ash, which is a by product of coal combustion is also regarded to be a more environmentally friendly material than the conventional building materials.
Opposition from the YCP and Political Controversy
However, as has been seen, the housing initiative has not been devoid of some criticisms despite its execution through the government. The Andhra Pradesh based Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party YCP headed by Kakani Govardhan has begun countering the incumbent Telugu Desam Party TDP’s housing policies. While on the dais, Govardhan justified the previous YCP government and especially the distribution of precious land to the poor. He pointed out that, during their time in office, they had delivered on their pre-election manifestos, which included allocating land for, inter alia, housing.
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Prime ministerial candidate of BJP, Mr Narendra Modi has accused the present central government of not measuring up to its commitments, in what he identified as its promise to give Rs. 4 lakh to be used in house construction but which has now been down scaled to Rs. 1. 5 lakh. He said such a situation reflects an unpalatable tendency, which indeed undermines the public’s trust.
Criticism of TDP’s Housing Allocations
Besides financial allegations, Govardhan targeted the accusations put up by the TDP in regard to the distribution of houses in the flood prone areas. He tried to defend former YCP government and claimed that for their tenure most of the decisions changed the lives of poor people and hinted that their policies were more favorable for the poor.
This continuous slapping of each other’s comments by both parties signifies the political enmity which is very much prevalent in Andhra Pradesh. Each party proceeds to blame the other for not doing enough to address housing deficits of the poor, making the politics of this fundamental issue even more convoluted.
Conclusion
The specific development plan of the Andhra Pradesh government that has been adopted as part of its mission to alleviate the living standards of the poor has increased the construction of houses. These include ambitious targets to reduce emissions and paid up contributions to this cause are also evidence of a similar disposition. The experience shows that the political opposition is often strong in such relatively large-scale welfare schemes In this respect, the YCP stands as an example of the challenges and controversies associated with the implementation of the welfare programmes. In an ongoing war of words between the TDP and the YCP, it is however still unclear as to how the aforementioned initiatives will change the lives of the poor in Andhra Pradesh. Such a discussion proves that the question of governance is never far away and it also reveals differences in how welfare is regulated in the state.
