The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition walked out of the Assembly on Wednesday stating that the State Government’s much talked off Life Mission housing scheme for the poor had sputtered to a halt.
Seeking the leave of the House to introduce an adjournment motion to discuss the issue, IUML legislator P.K. Basheer said an estimated nine lakh indigent families had applied for the scheme.
However, the Government was yet to process their applications and publish the final list of beneficiaries. Moreover, the government insisted that only ration cardholders need to apply. The proviso excluded many low-income families without land or home or ration cards from the project.
The Life Mission had emerged as the sole agency to provide housing for the needy. It undercut the traditional role of local bodies in the sector. Moreover, the mission also insisted that lodal bodies divert their funds allocated for housing purposes to the agency.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said the mission was against the principle of decentralisation. It usurped the role of local bodies. The mission selected beneficiaries via software developed by the Information Kerala Mission (IKM). Local bodies had no say in which families should benefit from the scheme.
Mr. Satheesan said the Government was cash strapped, and it had no funds to set apart for the mission. Hence, it delayed the scheme by postponing the selection of beneficiaries. The LDF had fallen short of its target of providing one lakh houses to the poor every year.
In contrast, the previous UDF Government had handed over more than four lakh houses to the poor during the 2011-15 period. It had done so by involving local bodies, SC/ST Department, Fisheries Department and agencies such as Prime Minister’s Awaz Yojana.
Minister for Local Self-Government M.V. Govindan said Mr. Satheesan had relied on a printing error in a Planning Board housing survey to claim the previous UDF had delivered as many houses. He said the mission had not diminished the role of local bodies. The Government had allocated ₹1,037 crore for the mission, and it hoped to raise a loan of ₹1,500 crore via HUDCO.
So far, six lakh land-owning people who could not afford to construct a dwelling had applied for the mission support. An additional two lakh home and landless people would benefit from the scheme.
