Kundapur: Govt plan gone wrong? Koraga families left with half-built houses
Silvester D’Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur
Kundapur, Aug 1: The government’s plans for backward communities like Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) has not turned out as expected. The houses for the Kalavara Koraga community which have been approved have not been built yet.
Four Koraga families in Kalavara gram panchayat are facing a lot of problems without houses. Two years back, under the ITDP project, four houses were sanctioned to four Koraga families in the gram panchayat. Hence, four beneficiaries - Mahalinga, Shekar, Suguna, and Bhabi - were identified and preparations were made to build houses for them.
In this regard, walls of three houses were built and the foundation was laid for one house, after which the work came to a halt.
What is this project?
As per the government project under ITDP, Rs 1 lac and Rs 25,000 from gram panchayat is allotted for every house. As per the rule, the money is handed over to the beneficiaries and it is they who have to build the house. But as the families lack knowledge, they hand over the money to some private contractor who comes forward to build the house.
What is the problem?
Each family will be granted with Rs 1.25 lac to build a house. In Kalavara, the contractor took money, built the foundation of each house, and then stopped the work stating that he had spent all the money on the foundation work. When the families try to contact the contractor, they are told that there is no profit in the construction.
As contractors do not get any profit, work on the house is stalled. Hence, beneficiaries have to make use of tarpaulins to cover their house instead of a roof. On the whole, it is the poor families who suffer due to the negligence of the government and the contractors.
It has been two years since the work was stopped. To resume the work, one has to incur additional expenses like cleaning the walls and others. Hence, no contractor is willing to take the responsibility.
“We have small children and it is difficult to stay like this with them. Are we facing this issue because we belong to the Koraga community? With whom do we share our problems,” queries Mahalinga, one of the beneficiaries.