AP govt conducts house-warming ceremony for 1 lakh houses

The Andhra Pradesh government today conducted house-warming ceremony for one lakh houses across the state, with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu formally launching the programme in Vijayawada.
The chief minister also declared three districts - West Godavari, Krishna and SPS Nellore - as open defecation-free (ODF) and said the target was to make the entire state ODF by March 2018.
"We created history in the country by inaugurating one lakh houses in a day. One lakh houses each will be inaugurated on December 25 (2017), January 14 and June 8 next year," Naidu said on the occasion.
The state government targeted to build 17.40 lakh houses for weaker sections, including 12 lakh in rural areas, at a total cost of Rs 50,000 crore, he said.

So far 4,471 villages across the state have been declared ODF while another 8,383 villages have to achieve this. All urban local bodies have already been declared ODF, the chief minister said.
Another 21.61 lakh toilets were still required to be built out of the total target of 48.20 lakh, he said.

The chief minister gave away awards and certificates to collectors of West Godavari, Krishna and SPS Nellore districts and the officials concerned for making the districts ODF.
He also felicitated badminton star P V Sindhu and noted writer Jonnavittula Ramalingeswara Rao for being brand ambassadors of Swachh AP.

The chief minister also launched a revamped personal insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Chandranna Beema on the occasion.
As many as 2.13 crore workers in the unorganised sector are covered under the scheme, which also provides for insurance payment of Rs 2 lakh even in case of natural death of persons below the age of 50.
The chief minister paid glowing tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on their birth anniversary.
Ministers, MPs, legislators and other elected representatives took part in the programme.