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Hans India
12-07-2025
- Business
- Hans India
DMK govt's flagship 'Kalaignar Kanavu Illam' scheme nears 1 lakh homes milestone
The Kalaignar Kanavu Illam (KKI), the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government's flagship rural housing scheme, is set to reach a major milestone, the completion of one lakh houses for the rural poor, within the next few weeks. As of now, a total of 81,811 houses have been fully completed under the scheme. An additional 18,071 homes have reached the roofing stage, while construction is underway on 118 others, which are expected to reach the roofing stage by July 20. Launched during the 2024–25 financial year, the KKI scheme aims to build one lakh houses annually for economically weaker sections in rural areas. The state government spent over Rs 3,039 crore for the scheme's implementation in its inaugural year. Progress continues into the current financial year as well. So far, 24 houses have been completed. Foundation and basement work has been completed for more than 90,000 houses, and 39,726 of them have progressed to at least the lintel stage. An additional Rs 673 crore has been spent so far this year to support construction activity. Each house built under the KKI scheme will have a minimum plinth area of 360 square feet, which includes a kitchen. Of this, at least 300 square feet will be built using reinforced cement concrete (RCC), ensuring durability. The cost of constructing each unit is Rs 3.5 lakh, which includes contributions from central schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Through MGNREGS, each house accounts for 90 person-days of employment, while an additional 10 person-days are earmarked for the construction of an Individual Household Latrine (IHHL), supported under Swachh Bharat (Grameen) at a cost of Rs 12,000. A key requirement for eligibility is that beneficiaries must possess a land patta in their name. However, in cases involving landless yet eligible individuals, District Collectors have been authorised to issue pattas, thereby enabling their inclusion in the scheme. With rapid progress and committed funding, the Kalaignar Kanavu Illam scheme stands as a symbol of the Tamil Nadu government's continued focus on improving rural housing and uplifting the living conditions of the underprivileged.
The Hindu
11-07-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Kalaignar Kanavu Illam to soon touch key milestone with completion of 1 lakh houses in rural T.N.
The Kalaignar Kanavu Illam (KKI), a flagship scheme of the DMK government in the area of rural housing for the poor, is likely to touch a key milestone — the completion of one lakh houses — in a few weeks. As of now, 81,811 houses have been completed. In the case of 18,071 houses, at least the roof has been laid. As for the remaining 118 houses, action has been initiated to bring the construction up to the stage of roofing by July 20. Launched in 2024-25, the KKI envisages the construction of one lakh houses annually. A sum of over ₹3,039 crore has been spent for the previous year, 2024-25. As regards the houses sanctioned this year, 24 houses have been completed. For over 90,000 houses, the completion of the basement stage has at least been accomplished. Out of this, 39,726 houses have been provided at least with lintel. For the current year, an amount of ₹673 crore has been spent. Under the scheme, the minimum plinth area of every house is 360 sq. ft., including the kitchen. At least 300 sq. ft. will be covered with reinforced cement concrete. The unit cost of each house is ₹3.5 lakh, including the convergence with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to facilitate 90 person days for house construction. Ten person days will be accounted for individual household latrine (IHHL), which will come under the Swachh Bharat (Grameen) at the cost of ₹12,000. Every prospective beneficiary should hold a patta in his or her name. As for landless persons who are otherwise eligible, District Collectors have been issuing pattas so that such persons are included in the list of beneficiaries, an official clarified.
Express Tribune
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Leghari sets the record straight
Pakistan loses Rs250 billion annually to power theft in the country — not Rs500 billion as some claim — Energy Minister Awais Leghari told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Power on Tuesday. The committee, chaired by Muhammad Idrees, was informed that K-Electric could now draw up to 600 megawatts (MW) of electricity from the national grid, bringing its total power availability to 2,000MW. The minister's statement came during a suggestion from committee member Rana Sikandar Hayat, who urged the issuance of new connections to housing societies to boost consumption. "If demand notices are issued, we'll install the connections," the minister said. "Power theft is not Rs500 billion as claimed — it's Rs250 billion annually," Leghari added. Hayat pointed out that the remaining amount was due to unpaid bills. Malik Anwar Taj raised public concerns regarding excessive billing when usage crossed the 200-unit threshold. He demanded that the committee include this issue in the agenda. "Why does the bill spike so drastically for just one extra unit?" he asked. While briefing the committee, officials said that any fault at the Jamshoro grid led to a complete blackout across the entire Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) network. They explained that failure at the Jamshoro grid disrupted electricity supply to 13 cities. The minister replied that Jamshoro grid only went offline during national blackouts. "I don't recall any isolated incident of fault within the Jamshoro grid," he explained. However, Hesco officials maintained that past incidents had indeed resulted in faults at Jamshoro that led to widespread outages. They called for the establishment of an alternative 220 kV grid station for Hesco, which should be connected through Matiari or Nawabshah. Committee member Syed Waseem Hussain maintained that the fault at Jamshoro grid affected Karachi also. Leghari dismissed this claim, stating that the Jamshoro grid "has no connection with K-Electric" and its system was separate; therefore, "it does not affect Karachi". The minister shared updates on the K-Electric's integration with the national grid. K-Electric officials informed the committee that the utility had established four interconnection points with the national grid, with a combined capacity of over 2,000MW. They said that two major grid stations — the 500 kV KKI grid and the 220 kV Dhabeji grid - had been successfully energised, adding that under an interim arrangement, the KKI grid was drawing up to 1,600MW from the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) network. The officials also informed the committee that a new connection point was under construction between K2/K3 and PQEPCL, linked via a 500 kV NTDC transmission line. This line is expected to be completed by the end of July 2025. "Once fully constructed and integrated with the KKI grid, K-Electric's drawdown capacity from the national grid is projected to reach approximately 2,100 MW," an official said. A K-Electric official clarified that this enhanced capacity depended on regulatory approvals and completion of technical feasibilities.
The Hindu
04-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Efforts on to expedite construction of nearly 1.2 lakh houses under Kalaignar Kanavu Illam
With about 78,000 houses having been built in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu under the Kalaignar Kanavu Illam (KKI) scheme, authorities are taking steps to expedite the construction of nearly 1.2 lakh more houses. The plan is to ensure the completion of the remaining houses in a few months, said a senior official of the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department. Launched during 2024-25, the KKI envisages the construction of one lakh houses annually. Of the 1,00,000 houses approved last year, 76,468 houses have been completed. In the case of 23,255 houses, at least the roof has been laid. As for the remaining 277 houses, action has been initiated to bring the construction up to the stage of roofing in 10 days. As regards the houses sanctioned this year, 18 houses have been completed. For 82,765 houses, the completion of the basement stage has at least been accomplished. The progress in the construction of the houses includes the provision of lintel for 23,564 houses, the laying of roof for 4,047 houses, and plastering/whitewash and colour wash for 291 units. As of now, a sum of ₹581 crore has been incurred in the current year, which is billed as one of the expeditiously carried out works in housing projects of the RD&PR department, the official pointed out. Out of a total grant of ₹3,100 crore set aside last year under KKI, ₹2,930 crore has been spent. Further, steps are on to release ₹267.96 crore to beneficiaries in convergence with allocations made under other schemes. As part of the scheme, the minimum plinth area of every house is 360 sq. ft., including the kitchen. At least 300 sq. ft. will be covered with reinforced cement concrete. The unit cost of each house is ₹3.5 lakh, including the convergence with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to facilitate 90 person days for house construction. Ten person days will be accounted for individual household latrine (IHHL), which will come under the Swachh Bharat (Grameen) at the cost of ₹12,000. Every prospective beneficiary should hold a patta in his or her name. As for landless persons who are otherwise eligible, District Collectors have been issuing pattas so that such persons are included in the list of beneficiaries, the official clarified.
