Guntur district set for massive house site distribution drive

The Guntur district administration is on course to provide house sites for over 2.50 lakh beneficiaries in Guntur district by Ugadi this year.

The government is acquiring 1,875 acres of land under the AP Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, to be given away in four revenue divisions by March 25 in the biggest house site distribution drive ever taken up by any State Government.

Joint Collector A.S Dinesh Kumar said that out of 2.50 lakh beneficiaries, 1.40 lakh are in urban areas and 1.10 lakh in rural areas. In Guntur Municipal Corporation limits, 66,000 beneficiaries would be provided house sites, followed by 17,000 in Tenali.

In city limits, where the cost of the land is prohibitively higher, the State Government is planning to build G+2 structures. In rural areas, each beneficiary would be given 1.50 cents of land.

In another novel initiative, the district administration plans to develop lay outs, have internal roads and peg marks to demarcate land. The beneficiaries would also have a Convince Deed with which he/she can either mortgage land or pledge his land to obtain bank loans.

‘Transparent acquisition’

“We are following a transparent land acquisition process where a team of officials headed by the District Collector will assess conditions, discuss with landowners and enter into a agreement with the landowner. After the agreement is signed based on mutual consent, the landowner is credited the money directly into his/her bank account. So far, we have ensured that an amount of ₹7 crore has been directly transferred out of the demand of ₹25 crore. We hope to complete the entire process within the next 15 days,” said Mr. Dinesh Kumar.

Ruling out any concerns of forcible acquisition, Mr. Dinesh Kumar said that in most areas, local landowners were convinced of the government’s moves to provide land to weaker sections.

“In rural areas, we are tapping funds under MGNREGS to develop the plots and in future, the house plots will act as a great leveler, pulling the underprivileged communities out of poverty,” Mr. Dinesh Kumar said.