Bengaluru: Krishnaraja MLA T.S. Srivatsa has underscored the urgent need for Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan to expedite the construction of houses for beneficiaries in his Constituency.

Highlighting the details, Srivatsa mentioned that the State Government had already approved the construction of 1,440 houses and had identified the beneficiaries.

However, as the location of the housing project comes within Lalithadripura which comes under Varuna Constituency, it was decided in the Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) meeting that 500 people from Varuna and 945 from Krishnaraja would receive houses under this project.

The beneficiaries have already made a payment of Rs. 75,000 each and are eagerly awaiting the allocation of houses. The MLA noted that the ground-breaking ceremony had been performed by the then CM Basavaraj Bommai on March 19, 2023, and the work order had been issued to the contractor by the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation. However, the project is facing delays as the land for the proposed project has not yet been identified and handed over to the contractor.

In response, Zameer Ahmed informed the Assembly that Rs. 13 lakh is required to build a house under the project, with Rs. 1.50 lakh provided by the Central Government and Rs. 1.20 lakh by the State Government as subsidies. He clarified that beneficiaries are required to pay the remaining Rs. 10 lakh. Additionally, the Minister disputed the claim that beneficiaries had paid Rs. 75,000 each, stating that only a total of Rs. 8 crore had been collected from beneficiaries, while the project’s total cost amounts to approximately Rs. 150 crore.

Recognising the financial constraints faced by beneficiaries, the Minister revealed that he had appealed to the Chief Minister for a subsidy of Rs. 5 lakh, to which the Chief Minister had responded positively. He concluded by explaining that the project could commence only after obtaining NOCs from RERA and the Airports Authority of India, as well as after receiving payments from beneficiaries.