Waiting for one's own house

Accelerating the work of LIFE Mission, the government's prestigious project, would have been a boon to the lakhs of homeless poor. The second phase of LIFE included 5,14,381 applicants. The first phase of the inspection of eligibility criteria was completed recently. 3,28,041 of the applicants own land for housing. Authorities will have to find land and build houses for 1,86,340 people. When the first list of beneficiaries was published, those having complaints were given an opportunity to file an appeal. Accordingly, about 75,000 appeals were received. Authorities also received 37 complaints alleging that a large number of ineligible applicants were included in the list of beneficiaries. It has been decided to settle the appeals, complete the second phase list and release the new list on July 1. After that, the village-ward councils have to give final approval. The final list will be released on August 16.

When it comes to government projects, it can take a long time to complete the procedures. However, the authorities should not forget the fact that a time schedule is essential for everything. The examination of the applications itself took a long time to complete. Applications remained on the desks of local bodies for months due to the shortage of staff. Eventually, cabinet intervention was needed to resolve the issue. Examination of applications was completed by redeploying officers from other departments. A lot of time must be spent on objections and appeals to reach the arduous stage of building a house. It is a shame that one to two years were spent on the paperwork for the project, which can take just four to five months to complete. The prices of construction materials are rising day by day.

The government has set precise criteria as to who is eligible for housing under the LIFE project. The officials need not waste time reviewing applications and settling things when they have these criteria in front of them. There is a provision to reject the application if it is found that the application contains intentionally incorrect information. Ward members and local body officials usually have no difficulty in finding eligible people among the applicants. Yet, the authorities took several months to publish the preliminary list of beneficiaries. This is not a sign of efficiency.

It is estimated that ten lakh families in the state are currently homeless. The aim is to build houses for all of them before the end of the current government's term. It will take a lot of hard work to make it happen. From the application stage to the construction stage, the goal can be achieved only by speeding up things. The working style also has to change from time to time. Extraordinary dedication is required for the success of such popular projects. Efforts should be made to ensure the service of officers with such qualities.