THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The scheme announced by the government last year to convert the outdated twin houses under the Laksham Veedu scheme implemented by the C Achuthamenon government to provide housing to the poor, into single houses, is yet to start.

The objective of the MN Suvarna Bhavanam project was to convert 5000 houses into single house in five years starting from from 1000 houses in one year. Five crores have been allocated for it in the 2022-23 budget, but no administrative approval has been received and not a single paise was allocated.

The announcement was made to mark the completion of 50 years of Laksham Veedu scheme. 9002 twin houses in the state are to be converted into single houses. The construction cost of a house is Rs.5 lakh. Out of this, two lakh will be provided by the state government and one lakh by local bodies. The remaining two lakhs should be paid by the beneficiary or sponsors. Housing department is in charge of the project. Apart from this, the housing department has also formed another project called MN Navayuga Project, which does not incur any financial liability to the government. Five lakhs required to build the houses will be found with the cooperation of corporate and private institutions. Social Commitment Fund will be utilized.

Land belonging to the Housing Board will be used for the project. Rs. 75,000 will be provided as a state government share for providing infrastructure. Although many large corporates have expressed interest in collaborating with the project, this too has not received administrative approval.

Laksham Veedu

The Laksham Veedu project was conceived by MN Govindan Nair, who was in charge of the agriculture and housing departments in the C Achuthamenon cabinet. 90,208 houses were constructed for the landless in the scheme started on May 14, 1972. Two families under one roof of 240 square feet.