With 4.73 lakh people applying for houses under the Punjab government’s flagship scheme ‘Houses for All’, the government has exempted the beneficiaries from paying any tax on the houses that they would be provided.
The Punjab local government minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said the local government department in collaboration with the urban development and housing department is running a campaign to provide houses to the poor families under the ‘Housing For All’ scheme.
He further said the state government is verifying the antecedents of the people submitting applications to check their eligibility in accordance with the norms. He added the list of eligible beneficiaries would be decided by the month of March this year.
The minister further said the lists pertaining to the number of homeless people are being finalised in the cities and towns which fall under all the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). The minister disclosed all the homeless families belonging to the Scheduled Caste or Backward Class category would be provided houses free of cost.
Apart from this, those families living in the slum areas on government land would also be given houses for free. The urbanites of general category who belong to low income groups would be given financial assistance worth Rs 1.50 lakh for constructing houses .
Sidhu also added the department has so far sent demand of Rs 38 crore for 56 cities and towns concerning this initiative. He also said it is the target of Punjab government to not let any urban poor remain homeless and provide every homeless with a home.