445 acres of government land for PMAY housing in Bengaluru, says Somanna

Housing Minister V Somanna on Tuesday held talks with Revenue and BBMP officials to hand over 445 acres of government land under Bengaluru's municipal limits to build houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Under the scheme, the government has set a target of building one lakh houses for the poor. Of this, 46,000 houses are in different stages of construction. On August 15, the chief minister will hand over 5,000 houses to the poor, the Housing minister said on Tuesday. For construction of the rest, the government has identified land in different parts of Bengaluru and the acquisition process is yet to happen.

According to the minister, at present they have received about 48,000 applications under the scheme. However, many are from well-to-do families. "We have to sort through the applications to ensure that only those who are eligible and are in need avail the benefit," the minister said.

All legislators in Bengaluru Urban will be given an opportunity to allot 50 per cent of the houses in their constituencies to the poor. However, the legislators will have to ensure that the houses are sanctioned only to those eligible, the minister added.

The government is providing houses to the poor at a nominal cost of Rs 5 lakh. For those belonging to the SC, ST communities, the government is also thinking of reducing this price to Rs 4.20 lakh, Somanna told media persons.

Further, the government is also in the process of constructing 1.8 lakh homes through the Karnataka Slum Development Board. Majority of the work will be completed in one year from now, he assured.