THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Under attack over allegations in connection with Life Mission projects, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday that his government will not abandon any development project benefitting the people fearing charges.
Vijayan was speaking after inaugurating online the construction work of 29 housing complexes as part of the Life Mission, the state government’s comprehensive housing security scheme.
“The government is working to provide housing and better living conditions for the homeless. But those who do not like such gains are trying to ridicule and undermine it. The government was not going to abandon any development projects fearing allegations. The dream of an own home will come true when the new housing complexes for 1,285 families are completed. It is not just a house, it offers new life to the homeless, There are many unfortunate ones who cannot make their dream of a home a reality,” he said.
Pointing out that the Life project was launched to ensure that none was left homeless in the state, Vijayan said 2,26,518 houses have already been completed and there was good cooperation from the people.
The local bodies have also done a good job in this connection.
At present, the construction of housing for one and a half lakh people is in progress.
The support from the co-operative department was valuable for the implementation of the care home project.
The Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes department and the Fisheries department have also cooperated well to complete the houses.
That is how the government was able to make the construction of houses for Rs 8,068 crores a reality in the State.
A total of 1,35,769 beneficiaries have been identified as eligible in the third phase of Life project, which aims to rehabilitate the landless homeless.
Of them, houses for 1,765 families have been completed.
In Idukki Adimali, a housing complex with 217 apartments has been constructed on a pilot basis and handed over to Adimali Panchayat.
There are 163 beneficiaries living there.
In addition, the complex has a primary health care centre, an anganwadi and livelihood facilities for the residents. The construction of 101 housing units in different districts is expected to be completed within the next year.
Of these, the work of 12 flat complexes is progressing rapidly.
The government has started the construction of the third phase of the Life project keeping in mind the changing situation in Kerala, where floods and landslides are recurring.
Prefab technology will be used in these constructions along with the concrete construction method.
The opposition Congress and the BJP had levelled allegations of corruption and construction flaws in the Life project at Wadakkancherry in Thrissur district following which a vigilance probe had been ordered by the government on Wednesday.
The opposition has demanded a CBI probe alleging that there was corruption involved in the selection of contractor by the Red Crescent, an international humanitarian organisation, which had agreed to provide Rs 20 crore worth funds towards the Life Mission Projects. Leader of the Opposition, Ramesh Chennithala, had alleged that Swapna Suresh, key accused in the Gold smuggling case, had admitted before the NIA court that she had received Rs one crore as commission towards the Life Mission project.
Source: Press Trust of India