With the Telangana government’s two-bedroom housing scheme for the poor being in great demand, a long, winding queue can be seen at the Secretariat every day with people waiting patiently to present their case.
The much-touted scheme entails the construction of 60,000 two BHK (bedroom, hall, kitchen) houses for the poor across the state for 2015-16, at a unit cost of Rs 5,04,000 in rural areas and at Rs 5,30,000 in urban areas.
The central government recently sanctioned 832.60 crores for building the new houses for economically weaker sections in Telangana.
Of the 60,000 houses, 36,000 flats will be allocated to rural areas while 24,000 flats will be allotted to urban areas.
A security personnel said, “From past few days, around 400 to 500 people are coming here every day to collect the passes and most of them are women.”
While speaking to The News Minute, a few of them shared their problems.
Forty-year-old Hanifa Begum said, “As soon as I heard about this scheme, I immediately rushed to the Secretariat to collect my entry pass in the hope of getting my own house. But it was not so easy to get this pass, as I got it after a ten-day long wait. Each day I spend nearly two hundred rupees for travelling which is not a small amount for me.”
She added, “I have seven daughters and I am the only breadwinner of the family. My husband doesn't earn and wastes his time drinking with what I earn. It is becoming really difficult to afford my rent and other expenses, though I am not sure of getting this house but I still wish to get it.”
Several people from the weaker sections of society have high hopes from the scheme and have been flocking to the counters with the necessary documents to submit their applications. However, some of the applicants have a common grouse that the entire process is too time-consuming.
Venkantaiah, a 67-year-old man said, ''I am not keeping well these days so I stay at home but my wife works as a maid and maintains our family. We are staying in Mallepaly and we pay around Rs 3000 excluding current bill and other expenses so it is not easy for us to afford the rent.''
''We are standing in this queue from past three hours with a hope to get a own house allotted by the government. Life will become a little easy if the government sanctions a house for us,"he said.
Nasim Bi, a 46-year-old resident of Hyderabad says, ''I have to sneak out during my work hours to visit the Secretariat, I have to bear a great loss as I work on daily wages. We are waiting since morning just to get an entry pass, but we are helpless as we feel there is no use of waiting.”
Laxmi from Naidu Nagar says, ''I have never stayed in an own house, we are staying in a rented house from past 15 years. We heard about this house allotment many times but I don't know whether this will happen or not but I just have a small hope to get a own house one day.''
''Affording monthly rents, current bill, school fees and food with my poor salary is quite impossible. I earn around three to four thousand per month in which I have to pay Rs.3000 only for the rent so I will be really glad if we get a house allotted by the govt," she said.
While all of them are eagerly waiting for the sanction of their two-room houses, one of them was skeptical saying that he doesn't trust the government.
Mohammed Chand Pasha said, ''Government had distributed around 2 lakh forms till now but I am sure that not even a single person will get the house. All these promises are just made to win the upcoming elections.''