Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 24: Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan today said that the government will not abandon any development project that benefits the people for fear of allegations. He was speaking after inaugurating online the construction work of 29 housing complexes as part of the Life Mission, the state government’s comprehensive housing security scheme.

In this address, the Chief Minister said, “The government is working to provide housing and better living conditions for the homeless. But those who do not like such gains are trying to ridicule and undermine it. The government was not going to abandon any development projects fearing allegations. The dream of an own home will come true when the new housing complexes for 1,285 families are completed. It is not just a house, it offers new life to the residents. There are many unfortunate ones who cannot make their dream of a home a reality.”

This government came up with the Life project to ensure that no one should be homeless in the state. As a result, 2,26,518 houses have already been completed. There was good cooperation from the people. The local bodies have also done a good job in this regard. At present, the construction of housing for one and a half lakh people is in progress.

The support from the Co-operation Department was valuable for the implementation of the care home project. The Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes Department and the Fisheries Department have also cooperated well to complete the houses. That is how the government was able to make the construction of houses for Rs 8,068 crores a reality in the State.

A total of 1,35,769 beneficiaries have been identified as eligible in the third phase of Life project, which aims to rehabilitate the landless homeless. Of them, houses for 1,765 families have been completed. In Idukki Adimali, a housing complex with 217 apartments has been constructed on a pilot basis and handed over to Adimali Panchayat. There are 163 beneficiaries living there. In addition, the complex has a primary health centre, an anganwadi and livelihood facilities for the residents.

The construction of 101 housing units in different districts is expected to be completed within the next year. Of these, the work of 12 flat complexes is progressing rapidly.

“The applications for the Life project were selected in a transparent manner and procedures were completed. The government decided to give another chance to all those who were not covered in all three phases of the project. More than eight lakh applications were received and the government intends to prepare a list of beneficiaries transparently and provide housing to the deserving ones”, the CM said.

These will be built in line with the government’s Green Protocol policy. The government has started the construction of the third phase of the Life project keeping in view the changing situation in Kerala where floods and landslides are recurring. Prefab technology will be used in these constructions along with the concrete construction method.