Telangana Chief Minister, K Chandrasekhar Rao moved into his new residence-cum-camp office at Begumpet on Thursday. Reportedly built at a cost of Rs 50 crore, with security features that includes bullet-proof windows, the house is reported to be the biggest and most expensive residence of any chief minister in India.
Even as KCR stepped foot into the palatial residence, his critics were quick to question the Chief Minister’s 2014 electoral promise, that of building 2 BHK houses for thousands of people. Recent reports suggest that KCR's pet project is delayed.
Timeline of 2BHK project
In 2014, KCR had promised to build 2-bedroom homes for the homeless and those living in thatched houses , each costing Rs 3 lakhs.
In 2015, KCR granted pattas to 10,300 families, promising to provide 2BHK homes, complete with a common living area, a kitchen and two toilets.
He also said, “I am confident of keeping all my promises. No one needs to worry. We need to build nearly 9,00,000 houses and you do not need to worry about providing margin money or raising bank loans like in the earlier days. This will be a 100% grant from my government. We will build at least 1,00,000 homes a year and very soon huts and slums will be a thing of the past in Hyderabad."
Fulfilling these promises, however, has been slow. In Hyderabad alone, KCR promised to construct one lakh 2-bed room houses, but the construction is yet to start.
“Construction for more than 5000 houses is going on across the Telangana. In Hyderabad the construction is expected to start soon,” Housing Minister, K Indra Karan Reddy told The News Minute.
Hindustan Times’ Srinivasa Rao Apparasu, reports that although the Telangana government’s target was to build houses with a budget of Rs 17,200 crore by 2017, hardly 10% of the houses have been built so far.
The paper also notes that the Chief Minister’ bungalow was constructed by a Mumbai-based developer in eight-months and the bill was entirely footed by the state roads and buildings department.