Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 29 (PTI): Kerala government on Saturday announced the completion of two lakh houses under 'Life Mission', a housing project of the government, envisaging total housing for all the homeless.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan made the announcement at a function here.
"It's a day to rejoice. Today, many homeless families have got a house of their own. A total of 2,14,262 families got their own house. We are proud that we could realise the dreams of many to live in their own house," he said.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister, along with ministers Kadakampally Surendran and A C Moideen, attended the house-warming function of Chandran, a resident of Enikkara near here.
Vijayan went to Chandran's new house, constructed and handed over under the Life Mission project, with a handful of gifts.
"When we came to power, this was a major demand made to us: That there are many homeless people, families. Many told us they had been allotted some fund for the house but the construction could not be completed as there was no sufficient fund. We started the Life Mission in 2017 after much deliberation," Vijayan said.
In the first phase, the Life Mission focused on completing houses which had been abandoned halfway for want of money.
Apart from government funds, contributions from the public have also gone into the construction of houses.
Life Mission spent Rs 670 crore in the first phase and Rs 5,851 crore in the second phase, an official said.
The Left government's next phase of the project aims to construct apartment complexes for those who do not have land and a home.
A senior official said over 100 sites across the state have been identified to build such apartment complexes using prefab technology.
However, Opposition Congress and the BJP termed the Life Mission project of the state government as a political gimmick.
Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala claimed that construction of 52,000 homes had begun during the last term of the Congress party.
"During our tenure, we constructed four lakh homes.
The construction of 52,000 homes was on when we demitted office in 2016. The chief minister is now claiming this two lakh number after including our contribution too. This is nothing but a political gimmick," Chennithala alleged.
However, Vijayan refuted the claim and lashed out at the Congress party for boycotting the function.
"As part of our mission, we first focused on completing houses which had been abandoned halfway for want of money. That means the construction of houses which were initiated during the earlier governments. Let them take the credit of 52,000 homes they claim. But the rest was done by us," Vijayan said.
The houses constructed under Life Mission does not have any kind of markings to show that they were made under any government project.
"The Left party wanted to make sure that no markings should be there in the houses. This will help to avoid the social stigma and help the downtrodden people to live with dignity," a senior official said.
