The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) staged a protest on Wednesday demanding that the State government hand over the houses constructed by Andhra Pradesh Township and Infrastructure Development Corporation (AP-TIDCO) at Jakkampudi near Vijayawada, to the beneficiaries immediately.
The CPI(M) leaders visited the TIDCO housing complex on Wednesday.
Speaking on the occasion, CPI(M) State secretariat member Ch Babu Rao said that the State government was requested to complete the process of handing over the houses before the end of September, failing which the CPI(M) would organise a housewarming ceremony with the beneficiaries, he said.
The TDP government began construction of the AP-TIDCO houses under the Central government scheme Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and collected the beneficiary share ranging from ₹25,000 to ₹1 lakh. Most of the AP-TIDCO beneficiaries are from financially weak backgrounds and had taken loans from private moneylenders at high rates of interest. Though the houses are ready to be occupied, the State government is not handing them over for reasons best known to it,” he alleged, adding that the beneficiaries who had taken bank loans for the construction of the houses are now receiving notices to pay instalments.
The CPI(M) leader alleged that the Central and State governments have been cheating the poor people in the name of housing schemes. “The State government claims that it has fulfilled 95% of the promises made to the people. But the fact remains that lakhs of poor people are still waiting for houses and plots in the State,” he added.
