FEEDBACK: Commissioner of Municipal Administration Niranjan Mardi (right), interacting with Kokila, a beneficiary of the BSUP scheme, and Alandur Municipal Chairman R. S. Bharathi in Alandur on Tuesday.

TAMBARAM: Lakshmi (50) has been a resident of Nehru High Road, Nanganallur, for a few decades now. Her only asset until recently was a thatched hut on a small piece of land. The meagre asset has, however, helped her in becoming a beneficiary of an urban housing scheme being implemented across the country by the Central and State governments, with a significant contribution from the people.

This is an initiative to provide decent housing to a substantial number of people living below the poverty line in "identified urban slum pockets."

The Ministry for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation has been implementing the Basic Services for Urban Poor scheme under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. In addition to houses for the poor, overall improvement of basic infrastructure in urban clusters is an important objective.

Under the housing component, the beneficiaries should own a piece of land, possess ownership and should be from below-the-poverty line. The people who fit into this criteria are selected and houses with a plinth area of 250 square feet constructed at the cost of Rs. 80,000 and handed over to them. The houses would come along with a toilet and bathroom to put an end to open defecation.

Of this amount, 80 per cent is a grant from the Centre and eight per cent from the State government while the families shell out the rest. New houses are constructed for the eligible homeless poor, while those living in thatched huts are provided upgraded dwelling units.

In the suburbs of Chennai, five municipalities were selected in the first phase. A total of 827 houses are being built in Alandur, 414 in Ambattur and 433 in Madhavaram. In Tiruvotriyur and Kathivakkam municipalities, the BSUP funds are used to improve basic infrastructure as houses are built under the tsunami rehabilitation schemes. A sum of Rs.23 crore is being spent for both housing and basic infrastructure improvement in these five urban local bodies.

In Pallikaranai, Sembakkam, Tiruneermalai, Kunrathur and Mangadu town panchayats, Rs.22 crore is being spent to build 2,115 BSUP houses. To review the progress of the BSUP in Alandur Municipality, Commissioner of Municipal Administration Niranjan Mardi made a inspection on Tuesday.

He interacted with Ms. Lakshmi and Kokila, another beneficiary in Bhaktavatsalam Nagar, Nanganallur. He asked them if they received the grants regularly.

Mr. Mardi told reporters that once implemented, the BSUP would give a thrust to the overall improvement of urban clusters in and around Chennai. He was accompanied by Alandur Municipal Chairman R.S.Bharathi and municipal officials, who said there were some problems owing to hike in the price of construction material and that they were being addressed.

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