YS Jagan may propose, but the contractors and dealers of various construction materials are all set to dispose. The prestigious “Jagananna” housing scheme may end up as a non-starter. The reason? The dealers of the construction equipment like the cement and the steel are refusing to supply the material if the past bills are not cleared immediately. In many of the layouts of the scheme, the work has not taken off so far. In some places, the beneficiaries are not ready to build their houses.
But the government has already fixed the targets for the collectors, who in turn are forcing the RDOs and the mandal level officers to reach the targets. These officers are forcing the beneficiaries to begin the construction work. In several places, the RDOs have convened special meetings with the traders and dealers to request them to send the construction material on loan. However the dealers are unrelenting.
They are openly claiming that they would supply the material only when the advances are paid. They are arguing that the distributors are not providing them with the material if the advances are not paid. This has turned out to be a huge headache for the officers.
The YS Jagan government has planned to construct 30 lakh houses in four years. In the first phase, 15 lakh houses were to be constructed at a cost of Rs 27000 crore. But the actual pace of the work is very slow. In 2021 too, 15 lakh houses are to be constructed. But, there are doubts whether the project will take off at all.
Why should they. Are they doing charity.