The Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council,under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation,has offered to provide housing for the needy in the city,provided the Chandigarh Administration is willing to give the council a suitable chunk of land for the construction of houses. The council has proposed to undertake construction of 20 to 100 demonstration houses on the land identified and allotted by the state. The modus operandi would be that the state government/UT may identify land and hand it over to the council. The council then constructs model demonstration houses and hands them over to the state government/UT for allotment to the beneficiaries. The council is an inter-ministerial organisation with a mandate to promote cost-effective building material and construction technologies,incorporating disaster-resistant and eco and environment friendly features by using renewable natural resources. According to the communiqué sent to the UT Administration,though the cost of construction of the demonstration houses would be borne by the council; the Administration will have to bear the cost of providing necessary infrastructural facilities such as water and electricity. UT Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar said: Providing affordable and quality housing has always been one of our top priorities. We have received the official communication and are considering it accordingly.
