On one side, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is launching his government’s housing program for the poor in the name of `Indiramma houses’ on the Republic Day in a big scale, the continuation of this program landed in confusion after the Union Minister of State for home Bandi Sanjay Kumar objecting for its name.
A day after union housing and urban development minister Manohar Lal Khattar visited the same, Sanjay Kumar made it clear that the center will not release funds if the state government names these houses after `Indiramma’. It is believed that he only said this one after Khattar objected to Indiramma’s name. As a result, Revanth Reddy’s decision to name the housing scheme for the poor after Indiramma has become a focal point of controversy, unlike anywhere else in other states.
Union Minister Khattar visited the state on Friday and state ministers including the Chief Minister appealed to him to sanction 20 lakh houses for the state. Speaking at a program in Karimnagar on Saturday, Union Minister Bandi Sanjay clarified that if the housing scheme is named after Indiramma, no funds will be provided from the Center.
This raises doubts about the implementation of the Indiramma Housing Scheme. Many believed that Bandi Sanjay made this comment because Union Minister Khattar himself objected to naming the houses after Indiramma. If this is true, then there is no possibility of funds being released from the Center for various reasons unless Indiramma’s name is changed, and even if funds are received, they will be in small amounts.
The state government has already announced that it is ready to put the Central Government symbol on the houses since the scheme is being implemented with Central funds. If the State Government symbol is put on the Central Government along with the State Government, there is a possibility of the scheme being implemented without any controversy.
Otherwise, political circles are warning that problems will arise if houses are named after leaders or in Congress colors. Housing schemes are being implemented under various names in almost all the states of the country under the Central Government’s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). It has been decided to implement the Indiramma Housing Scheme in Telangana as well as in PMAY.
In the past, when Congress was in power at the Centre and in the state, the name of Indiramma was finalized in the combined state. But now the Congress party is limited to two or three states in the country. In this context, naming the housing scheme being undertaken in Telangana with the support of the NDA government at the Centre after Indiramma has become controversial.
It is noteworthy that in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, where Congress is in power, as well as in states ruled by the opposition parties AAP and TMC, the names of leaders have not been given to the housing schemes.