AP govt admits Rs 260-crore scam in ambitious housing scheme

Hyderabad, Jan 10: Andhra Pradesh government admitted there has been misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs 260 crore in its ambitious Indiramma Housing scheme.

Apart from government officials, members of women self- help groups were involved in the swindling of funds, state Housing Minister Kanna Lakshminarayana said. Briefing reporters at the end of a high-level review meeting on the housing programme with Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy here, the minister said of the amount misappropriated, a meagre Rs four crore have been recovered so far.

He, however, did not say if any criminal cases were booked against the guilty.

"More than three lakh houses have gone to bogus beneficiaries, resulting in swindling of over Rs 260 crore. We have directed the district collectors to send detailed reports on misappropriation of funds in their respective districts so that further action can be initiated," he added.

The state government had launched the Indiramma Housing programme in 2005-06 with a 'saturation' concept under which every houseless family was promised a house.

The state promised to build over 86 lakh houses in five years but not even half have been completed so far.

For long, opposition parties have been alleging housing funds running into several crore rupees were being misappropriated and there were thousands of bogus beneficiaries everywhere. However, the government had been in a denial mode earlier.

PTI