K Chandrasekhar Rao gifts 'dream' 2 BHK houses to 503 poor families in Erravalli

ERRAVALLI: The dreams of hundreds of villagers from Erravalli and Narsampet villages of Siddipet district turned into reality on Friday when 503 families formally entered into their `very own' double-bedroom house. Of the total 600 houses that were sanctioned for these two villages that have been adopted by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, 503 were completed and the remaining are in various stages of construction.
On Friday , the CM took part in a combined house warming ceremony along with his ministers and officials. A strong believer in Gram Swaraj, a comprehensive rural development model espoused by Mahatma Gandhi, KCR not only handed over the ownership papers of the house to the beneficiaries, but also gave away one buffalo and a few chickens to each family to ensure a regular income for them. The CM had adopted these two villages two years ago and has now turned them into model villages in the state.
“We have electricity, black-top roads, safe drinking water, drip irrigation and now double bed room houses. Now, the house we own has two bedrooms two bathrooms, a spacious hall, a kitchen and of course, a spacious garden to grow vegetables. I just cannot believe my good fortune,“ said a beaming Bhookala Parvathalu Yadav, a villager.
Taking the opportunity , KCR also ensured cashless transactions in his two adopted villages. On Friday , after distributing swiping machines to retail outlets in two villages, he declared both of them as 100 per cent cashless transaction villages. Interestingly, district collector P Venkata Rama Reddy ensured that all villagers opened savings accounts with the Grameen Vikas Bank that has a branch in Erravalli. Nearly 2000 accounts were opened during the last one month and most of villages are now equipped with debt cards as well. With the introduction of the swiping machines, people started using their debit cards to pay for groceries, electricity bills and purchase of seeds and pesticides.
“As per the direction of the chief minister, we have requested villagers to shift to cashless transactions and the bank has provided the swiping machines to ensure 100 per cent compliance. We have already made arrangements to pay all welfare and social security payments through bank accounts,“ district collector P Venakata Rama Reddy told TOI.