HUDCO sanctions Rs. 300 cr. loan

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, OCT. 15. The Union Minister for Urban Development, Mr. Jagmohan, today sanctioned a sum of Rs. 300 crores on behalf of HUDCO as loan assistance for construction of 2.27 lakh permanent houses for victims of recent floods in the State.

At a public function here, Mr. Jagmohan handed over a cheque of Rs. 100.89 crores to the Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, as first tranche of the loan. He offered to take up with the Finance Ministry Mr. Naidu's request for converting it into an interest-free loan.

Mr. Jagmohan promised that more funds would be made available for rebuilding the infrastructure in and around the Twin Cities if the State Government was willing to avail the loan. Showering praise on the State Government for making best use of HUDCO's housing schemes, he said nearly 22 lakh housing units had been sanctioned so far at a cost of Rs. 3,235 crores.

The Union Minister, who made an extensive tour of HUDCO-assisted housing schemes in Hyderabad and Rangareddi district besides visiting flood-hit areas in the City, said he had never witnessed similar enthusiasm and dedication of the official machinery in any other part of the country. He said he was amazed by the success of the DWCRA scheme for women empowerment and described the experiment as `a social revolution'.

He was also impressed by the cleanliness in the Twin Cities and said the Chief Minister was full of new ideas and possessed a spirit of doing something extra.

Mr. Chandrababu Naidu sought to allay fears of people living in houses abutting the Hussainsagar surplus channel that the Government would uproot them suddenly.

The Chief Minister said the Government would try its best to rehabilitate them in their existing locality or a little distance away, where it was not possible.

Expressing gratitude to Mr. Jagmohan for sanctioning the loan, he noted that AP had stood first for four consecutive years in building permanent houses for weaker sections.

The Union Minister for Rural Development, Mr. M. Venkaiah Naidu, said the NDA Government would extend full cooperation to the TDP Government as it strongly believed that politics had no place in development. He offered to favourably consider the Chief Minister's request for sanctioning more houses to AP under the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY).

The Union Minister of State for Urban Development, Mr. B. Dattatreya, who presided, said private builders must be involved in constructing houses to rehabilitate slum dwellers as funds under the National Slum Development Programme were insufficient.

Dr. K. Lakshman, Musheerabad MLA, spoke.

The meeting, held on the banks of a `nala' behind DBR Mills, was attended by several MLAs and Ministers including Mr. A. Prabhakar Reddy, K. Vijayarama Rao, and C. Krishna Yadav.

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