Chief minister Raghubar Das got into election mode at his constituency here on Saturday, contrasting his government’s unblemished record with that of previous governments he referred to as “golmaal, ghotala sarkar”.
Speaking while laying the foundation stone of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (urban) schemes at Gudiya Maidan in Birsanagar, which is part of the Jamshedpur East Assembly se-gment, Das declared that the BJP government had come to power not to govern but to serve.
“We have come with the philosophy of serving people rather than ruling over them. Our government is committed to ensure that nobody is without a home by 2020. We are also moving towards providing electricity to all houses by March 2019. People have seen what has happened in the last four and-a-half years, compared to the regimes of other governments of Jharkhand,” said Das in a 20-minute-long speech.
On earlier governments’ lack of effort to provide electricity to all, the chief minister said, “Perhaps they did not want poor villagers to have access to electricity as it would have given them the opportunity to get information from TVs. The khichdi sarkar (coalition governments) of Jharkhand was steeped in golmaal and ghotala (irregularities and scams). However, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guidance our record has been without blemish.”
In a bid to woo the middle classes, Das said those staying in Jharkhand State Housing Board (JSHB) properties for more than 10 years would soon be declared free holders (ownership transferred after payment) instead of the existing practice of giving houses on lease (lease holders).
Earlier, Das laid foundation stones for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (urban) dwellings at Birsanagar and Baguhatu worth Rs 867.97 crore.
While 9,592 houses (G+8) will be accommodated in Birsanagar at an estimated cost of Rs 705.77 crore, around 2,480 houses (G+3) will be built in Bagunhatu at an estimated cost of Rs 162.20 crore.
The Birsanagar project will be completed in 24 months while the Bagunhatu project will be completed in 18 months. Each house will be of 329sqft area. The Centre would provide Rs 1.50 lakh and the state would contribute Rs 1 lakh as subsidy for beneficiaries. Jamshedpur MP Bidyut Baran Mahto also addressed the function.