LIFE Mission will construct 1.5 lakh more houses in 2021- 22, including 60,000 houses for scheduled categories and fishermen.
This announcement by Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac in his Budget speech in the Assembly on Friday is seen as the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s expression of commitment to LIFE Mission, one of its flagship programmes aimed at providing housing to all homeless families.
Amid the controversy over the allegation of irregularities in the LIFE Mission housing project at Wadakkancherry in Thrissur, now being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the State government’s Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, the government and the LDF leadership have accused the Opposition of maligning the programme.
The Minister said in his Budget speech that priority would be given to 1.35 lakh landless and homeless families. As of now 20,000 of them were already provided with land. An amount of ₹185 crore is earmarked for the purchase of land to scheduled categories.
While the construction of 26 flat complexes for the landless is going on, work for constructing 21 flat complexes will start in 2021-22. A total of ₹6,000 crore was required for LIFE project, the Minister said announcing that ₹1,000 crore was earmarked in the Budget. Excluding the share of local government institutions, the rest will be borrowed through Kerala Urban and Rural Development Finance Corporation Ltd.
The repayment liability of local government institutions for LIFE project is limited to 20% of its development fund. The additional repayment of local government institutions over this threshold would be borne by the government, Dr. Isaac said. The Budget also earmarks ₹20 crore for implementing Grihasree scheme through Housing Board and ₹23 crore for other schemes.
