Dehradun, July 7, 2013: Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation on Saturday offered financial assistance worth Rs. 200 crore to Uttarakhand government.

The Ministry is ready to provide a soft loan of Rs. 2,000 crore through the Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO).

Also, a special package of Rs. 5 crore shall be released by the Centre under the Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana .

It was decided on Saturday that a technical member from Housing Ministry shall be nominated in the Uttarakhand Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority. The setting up of this authority was proposed by the Chief Minister on July1.

The loan, which will be offered to the State under the Rajiv Awas Yojna (RAY), will be utilised in reconstructing houses that were damaged in the calamity. However, such houses must fall in the areas of all affected municipalities.

The District Magistrates have been asked to provide information on the damaged houses as the proposal for the reconstructed shall be sent to the Centre within seven days.

Model houses, made by special techniques of construction, shall be constructed in Pithoragarh, Uttarkashi, and Rudraprayag districts. These houses will be constructed as 24 houses each in three identified areas in these districts. The State government will then allot these houses to the affected people.

Source: The Hindu, DT. July 7, 2013.