Apartment-style homes for urban poor: Ponguleti

Revenue and Housing Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy announced that the government was preparing a plan to construct apartment-style houses for the urban poor.

The Minister made these remarks after inaugurating 344 double-bedroom houses at Rasoolpura in the Cantonment constituency, along with Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, MPs Eatala Rajender and Anil Kumar Yadav, and MLA Ganesh on Saturday.

Addressing a public meeting, Mr. Srinivas Reddy said that housing would be provided in apartment complexes even to those living on plots ranging between 30 and 70 square yards in urban areas, following Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s directions.

Recalling his earlier promise during the Cantonment by-election to complete the unfinished double-bedroom houses, he said, “We have fulfilled that assurance.” He criticised the previous government for neglecting housing for the poor, saying they focused instead on projects like Kaleshwaram for selfish needs.

Despite financial constraints, the present government is committed to construct 4.5 lakh houses in the first phase, and more houses will be sanctioned in the coming three phases. Special attention, he added, will be given to housing needs within GHMC limits.

Responding to issues raised by MP Eatala Rajender and MLA Ganesh, the Minister directed officials to complete the long-pending Vajpayee Colony housing works and hand them over to beneficiaries. He assured that repairs to incomplete double-bedroom houses will be finished within a month and delivered to poor families as a gift.

Mr. Srinivas Reddy also assured that the government would support families in the Cantonment who have been residing for generations by converting their occupied lands into freehold properties. He urged BJP MP Rajender to take up the matter with the Union Government to secure necessary approvals.