Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated 400 new quarters for central government employees in Dev Nagar, Karol Bagh, New Delhi

Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu today inaugurated 400 new quarters for central government employees in Dev Nagar, Karol Bagh, New Delhi

Urban Development Minister Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu today inaugurated 400 quarters in Dev Nagar, Karol Bagh, New Delhi, for immediate allocation to the keenly awaiting central government employees. Central Public Works Department (CPWD) built these Type-III quarters at a cost of Rs.83 cr.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Naidu said, the availability of housing stock in General Pool Residential Accommodation, under which houses are provided to central government employees, senior officials, Judiciary, Members of Parliament, Ministers etc., in the national capital is 59,293 as against the requirement of over one lakh dwelling units. The Minister informed that Urban Development Ministry will enable construction of over 37,000 houses in the next four years at a cost of about Rs.15,000 cr to meet the shortfall. He said, to address the shortfall in accommodation for members of Lok Sabha, 52 flats are being constructed on Dr.Bishamber Das Marg, and on their completion soon, housing needs of Lok Sabha members will be fully met.

Shri Venkaiah Naidu informed that under ‘Housing for All by 2022’ initiative of the government, about 30 million houses will be built in the urban areas of the country at a cost of about Rs.22.50 lakh crores, mostly through large scale private sector participation. He said, this is a challenging task, but not difficult.

Shri Venkaiah Naidu inspected another block of 384 houses under construction and instructed CPWD to make mandatory provision of solar heating panels, LED lighting, rain water harvesting, green belt and Green Building Code for all new construction projects.

Stating that CPWD is currently handling over 7,000 projects at a cost of over Rs.40,000 cr, Shri Venkaiah Naidu asked the construction major to get more efficient, transparent and accountable in its functioning, with emphasis on quality, timely completion of projects and proper utilization of its large manpower. He informed that under his direction, CPWD placed all information about 7,000 projects in public domain by posting them on its website so that public can scrutinize and monitor execution of projects. CPWD’s website enables public to post comments, complaints and photos for taking appropriate action.

Shri Venkaiah Naidu lamented that intervention at his level was required to get water supply to the large number of houses meant for government employees, whose construction was completed last year and were inaugurated today, after substantial delay.

The Minister informed that within five weeks of launching of Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana, over 6 crore new bank accounts were opened and this goes to prove that ‘if there is will, things will fall in place.’

PIB