Gujarat polls: Maken says Modi misleading Gujarat's urban poor on housing promises

Ahmedabad: Union Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ajay Maken on Saturday mounted a scathing attack on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for consistently making false promises on homes for the poor in the state. "While in 2002, Modi had promised to make 15 lakh houses, a promise totally unfulfilled, he has again promised to build 50 lakh houses in the run-up to the current elections," Maken said.

"Leave apart constructing houses, the Gujarat government is not even implementing the schemes for which the central government is providing funds," he added."After having sanctioned construction of 139,490 houses for the urban poor under JNNURM (at a cost of Rs 2,492.81 crore), only 55,399 houses have been allotted and occupied," Maken said.

"Seventy-three per cent of the total admissible grant by the central government had been given to the Gujarat government, despite this performance. This is an insult to the hopes and aspirations of the poor people of Gujarat," he said. He blamed the Gujarat government under Modi's leadership for the delay in implementing the central government's Rajiv Awas Yojana for Slum Free ('Jhopri Mukt') India in eight cities in the state (Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Bharuch, Bhavnagar and Porbandar), where despite the release of funds in March 2010, plans have not been completed.

Maken also followed Sonia Gandhi\'s tone and blamed Modi for not implementing centrally funded schemes in Gujarat.

"On the basis of preparatory work in the Rajiv Awas Yojana, the central government had set aside Rs 5,000 crore for construction of houses for the urban poor. Whereas proactive governments like Madhya Pradesh have been able to get hold of half of the total sanctioned amount for various projects, the Gujarat government has not been able to move ahead," Maken said.

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