Scheme to provide housing for SC/ST communities still not being implemented
The Onti Mane Scheme is yet to be executed by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The scheme still awaits a list of lands owned by the Schedule Caste and Tribe community members.
The scheme talks about providing up to Rs. 5 lakhs to the population that comes under scheduled tribes, castes, and other backward classes in order to help them build houses. For scheduled castes, the municipal corporation must provide a 24 percent grant, and for scheduled tribes up to 18 percent.
The Assistant Commissioner of the Social Welfare Department (BBMP) Mr. Janardhan said, “There has been a lot of trouble for the execution of this scheme. We are still covering the data about the land that is owned by the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other backward classes.”
He added, “Many people have documents for the acquisition of the land but many others are without the documents due to which we are facing trouble to get the official data for people that come under the eligibility to get money through the scheme.”
The scheme was introduced by the Chief Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj Bommai. It was discontinued due to the pandemic.. On June 15, the CM announced the revival of the scheme but it has not been implemented yet.
Mr. Janardhan further said, “The applicant must have proper identification proof to uphold the eligibility, the land must not come under any dispute, and there must be a photograph of the land. The applicant must hold a caste certificate to avail this scheme. There have been cases where fake documents and proofs were recovered after inspection; this is also one of the reasons why the implementation gets delayed.”
Bilal, a worker at the construction site near Baiyappanahalli Metro Station, said, “I have my land with proper documents, I’m aware of this scheme and waiting for the implementation, I have high hopes because my annual income is less than Rs. 2 lakhs and I cannot build a house on my own.”
Ramakrishna, another worker at the same construction site, said, “I have no idea if such a scheme exists. Now that I’m aware and I have land of my own I would like to avail it.”
Dr. Dolly Florence Murmu, Associate Professor Sociology at Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi said, “Much awareness and proper regulation of schemes can cut off many financial problems that the backward communities face, schemes like Onti Mane can be very effective if implemented properly with good execution.”
