One lakh houses being built for paramilitary forces

"This will be done through the public-private partnership mode in about four years and will meet the housing satisfaction level in the forces," a home ministry official said. The initiative, also expected to contribute to operational efficiency of the forces, is also seen as a measure to boost the morale and motivation level of paramilitary personnel.

"The housing satisfaction level among paramilitary force personnel is 15.4 per cent, which is low and considered to be a demotivating factor," according to a ministry statement. The housing satisfaction, which is the degree of contentment experienced by an individual or a family member, with regard to paramilitary troopers is very low - a little over 15 per cent, according to the home ministry.

"Until now the Central Public Works Department has been constructing houses for the force personnel and the pace of construction has been less than what is required to meet the authorised satisfaction level of 25 per cent for the force personnel. By conventional approach, on an average about 4,000 houses are added every year," the statement said.

The home ministry, the official said, has identified 245 sites across the country where land is readily available with the paramilitary forces like the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Assam Rifles (AR). Some 30 sites have been taken up in the pilot project.

The pre-bid conference for these 30 sites is scheduled for March 29 and the last date for receipt of request for qualification is April 9. The remaining 215 sites are also proposed to be launched in four lots on a staggered basis within the coming financial year 2010-11, the official said. In order to carry the process forward and float the bids, the ministry has appointed Price Waterhouse as transaction advisors.