EAST GODAVARI: Andhra Pradesh government launched YSR Jagananna Illa Pattalu, the house-sites distribution programme in Komaragiri village at Kothapalle mandal of East Godavari district on Friday. The scheme has been hailed as a move to make women beneficiaries self-reliant and empower them, as the title deed would be issued in their name. This apart the scheme will also aid the construction sector where lakhs of people would be given employment.

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, who formally launched the scheme, said the programme would benefit 30.6 lakh people in the state. Calling it a 15-day festival, he said that more than 17,000 new townships would be coming up.

He further specified that in urban areas, one cent and in rural 1.5 cents of land would be allotted to each beneficiary under the programme and the title deeds would be issued in the name of women.

Full title deeds were not being issued to the beneficiaries now because of an impending litigation in the High Court over the programme.

The housing scheme will be implemented in two phases at an estimated cost of Rs 50,940 Crore. Apart from distributing house site pattas, construction of 15.6 lakh houses was also taken up in the first phase of the scheme. Sale deeds of 2.62 lakh TIDCO flats will be given to beneficiaries.

The opposition TDP party had created many legal hurdles for the registration of house sites and if need be we will go to the Supreme Court, to clear them, the CM asserted. The TDP is unable to digest the benefit to the poor, and are creating problems in the form of legal cases and stay orders and these legal hurdles have prevented 3.74 lakh poor beneficiaries from getting the house sites, they rightly deserved.

The distribution of housing sites for the poor beneficiaries is being lauded across the country, and is termed as the biggest breakthrough for women's self-sufficiency in the State, which will be relentlessly pursued by the Chief Minister.