Thiruvananthapuram : Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan instructed interest waiver on money refundable by beneficiaries against construction works under Punargeham project that might not have been completed in a year’s time,. The instruction came about at meeting held Tuesday to evaluate progress in the project.
As per the project provisions, beneficiaries who fail to complete their house construction within a period of one year from allocation of money, shall refund the same along with 18 percent interest. The property rights such fish workers shall be revertedto them, said CM at the meeting..
Punargeham project aims to relocate families living within 50 meters of the tidal line along coasts. A total of 18,655 persons will be rehabilitated in this manner. Options under the project include : construction of individual houses, consturction of flat complexes and direct purchase of houses by beneficiaries. A maximum of Rs 10 lakh is allocated to each beneficiary for construction of houses. The space limit for houses that might be purchased outright was set at 500 sq ft initially. The same stands modified to 400 sq ft, said CM.
Of the 10,909 beneficiaries granted permission by the district-level Approval Committee, 2363 persons have identified land required and fixed their prices. Another 1746 have completed registration of their plots while 601 have completed full construction of their homes. Punargeham has been funded with Rs 200 crore from Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund, of which, Rs 180.21n crore has been spent so far.
Other speakers at the meeting were Fisheries Minister Saji Cherian and Revenue Minister K Rajan.
