Separated sons eligible to get pucca houses: Odisha Minister

Even if a person is living separately from his father, he will be eligible to receive a pucca house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, said Odisha Panchayati Raj Minister Rabi Naik on Monday. 

The government has made some changes in the selection criteria for the fourth phase of pucca house distribution. Because of the changes, a person living separately from his father will be eligible to receive a pucca house.

“There are many persons who have separated from their fathers and living separately with their own families. These people will be included as eligible beneficiaries this time. To select beneficiaries, we have formulated ten criteria. For this, we have set a time frame of six months,” said Minister Naik. 

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Taking a dig at the previous BJD government, Naik said, “In 2017-18, a national-level list was prepared. But the then government in Odisha didn’t prepare the list. As a result, lakhs of poor people didn’t get houses.”

“After identifying these left-out eligible beneficiaries, we will give them work orders within six months,” he added. 

As per sources, executive officers of panchayats, panchayat extension officers (PEOs) and block development officers (BDOs) will be involved in the eligible beneficiary identification process. If any fault is detected in the process, strong action will be taken against the people responsible. Regarding this, a detailed guideline has already been sent to all blocks.