Kerala to revamp Life Mission; Separate SC, ST, fisherfolk schemes; ₹2 lakh more per house

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government is preparing to restructure the Life Mission housing scheme implemented by the previous LDF government. The plan is to introduce separate housing schemes for different beneficiary categories, based on the assessment that this would provide greater benefits.

A framework has already been prepared to separate housing schemes for Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes and the fishing community from Life Mission.

If the Chief Minister approves the proposal, the respective departments will invite applications for new houses. Those who have already received houses under the Life Mission scheme, as well as those who have received approval, will continue to receive assistance under the existing scheme.

Life Mission was implemented by the LDF government by bringing together housing schemes run by various departments and the Centre’s scheme allocations under a single programme. The government now believes that this resulted in the loss of the special consideration previously available to communities such as Scheduled Tribes.

More assistance for houses

The government expects to provide 10,000 houses to Scheduled Caste beneficiaries alone through the new scheme during the current financial year.

The new scheme has been designed to provide Rs 2 lakh more per house than the assistance available under Life Mission. For Scheduled Caste beneficiaries, the assistance will increase from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 6 lakh, while for Scheduled Tribe beneficiaries, it will rise from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh.

There will be no beneficiary share under the new scheme.

No upper limit on house size

The existing restrictions on the size of houses will also be removed. The only requirement will be that the house should have a minimum area of 450 square feet. There will be no upper limit on the size of the house.

A proposal has also been made to release the financial assistance in four or five instalments, though a final decision has not yet been taken.
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Rs 200 crore set aside for SC housing

The government has allocated Rs 200 crore for the housing scheme for Scheduled Caste beneficiaries during the current financial year.

This allocation would be sufficient to provide the full assistance for 3,333 houses. However, if the amount is released in instalments, the government estimates that approvals could be issued to 10,000 beneficiaries for houses during the current financial year.

The government has also proposed a comprehensive scheme to address the housing needs of the fishing community.