Amid recession, CM bats for 1L affordable houses by 2022

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 28

At a time when the realty sector is facing severe recession, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is batting for affordable housing with a tough target of providing 1 lakh houses to state residents by 2022.

To realise his dream, Khattar on Friday announced the setting up of a dedicated department for “housing for all” to bring all government schemes being implemented by different departments, boards and corporations under one roof.

Khattar said an outlay of Rs255 crore had been proposed for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)-Urban. Similarly, the PMAY (Rural) has been allocated Rs 32 crore for 2020-21.

It may be recalled that under the PMAY (Rural), 4,549 houses had already been constructed in 2019-20 and 5,860 are under construction.

With the real estate sector under recession, the Haryana Government’s dream of providing 1 lakh houses, especially under the affordable housing, might hit many roadblocks.

Affordability will be a major challenge for the Haryana Government, especially in the projects where private sector was involved in the allotment process.

With land prices skyrocketing, especially in the National

Capital Region, a major portion of the current inventory with the real estate players is for the middle and upper classes.

Meanwhile, the state government, Khattar said, will also overcome difficulties in the allotment of 100-yard plots to the beneficiaries of the Mahatma Gandhi Gramin Basti Yojana. “With a view to facilitate the beneficiaries in the construction of their houses, they will be linked with the PMAY (Rural),” Khattar asserted.