Sites sought for homeless needy

Karnataka Prantha Krishi Koolikarara Sangha staged a protest in front of the City Municipal Corporation office demanding the housing sites to the homeless needy.

Sangha’s taluk unit president Vittal Poojary demanded that the CMC should follow the steps of Mangaluru City Corporation and introduce Z+2 plan to provide houses to the homeless needy.

He stated that the government should provide Rs 3 lakh subsidy for a 540 square metre house. The house or the flat should be built at a cost of Rs 5.3 lakh. In this, Rs 1.2 lakh should be the loan amount and Rs 1 lakh investment. If the beneficiary is against the flat, he or she should be given houses in the rural areas, he said.

Poojary demanded for the authentication of the fact that village accountants are assigned with the task of verifying the applications of the homeless needy and the final list is sent to the tahsildars.

He added that the government should take action against illegal encroachment of its land. The land recovered should be given to the homeless needy, he felt.

Poojary alleged 1.91 acres of land in Puttur village was earmarked for homeless needy. But the land is not distributed to the beneficiaries in the past two years, he claimed.

After receiving a memorandum from the protesters, City Municipal Corporation Commissioner Manjunathayya said the City Municipal Corporation has no right to distribute the site or houses. It is the responsibility of the revenue department, he added.

Manjunathayya said 2,641 applications have been received so far. Among them, 299 applications have been finalised and have been given to the Revenue Department. The land set aside for the homeless needy is not distributed. There are 36 applications from the land losers following the land acquisition for the national highway work.

The decision to give them land at Pottakere in Puttur has been taken. But the land is lying useless as it is a low lying area. The water filled in the area makes the construction of the houses impossible. Hence, land has been identified for them at Perampalli. As many as 1.5  acres of land has been earmarked in Lingotigudde in Puttur village, he added.