Hyderabad: Agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao on Thursday announced that interest-free loans would be provided to poor families who were allotted plots and Indiramma houses in Velugumatla Bhoodan land to help them construct their homes.

He was speaking after participating in the groundbreaking ceremony for 38 houses in the Bhoodan land at Velugumatla in Khammam district.

The minister said a landlord had donated 31 acres and seven guntas of land at Velugumatla to the Bhoodan Board in 1951. However, some fraudsters allegedly issued fake Bhoodan land documents to poor people after collecting money. The affected families built houses on the land and had been living there without electricity or drinking water for the past eight years.

Tummala said the demolition of houses in the Velugumatla Bhoodan land was carried out as per orders of the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA). The state government had stepped in to support the affected families who had been living without basic facilities.

Under the Indiramma Housing Scheme, ₹5 lakh would be provided to each beneficiary for constructing houses in the Velugumatla Bhoodan land. If required, zero-interest loans would also be extended.

The minister said electricity would be provided to the Bhoodan colony by Ugadi and directed officials to begin laying pipelines to supply drinking water under Mission Bhagiratha.

He added that the Velugumatla Bhoodan colony would be developed as a model colony and that the construction of houses would be completed by December 9.