Mangaluru : Communist Party of India (Marxists) staged a protest in front of the office of J.R. Lobo, MLA, Mangaluru City (South), at Mallikatta on Monday demanding housing sites for the poor.

They took out a procession from Nanthoor Junction to the office.

Addressing a gathering Vasantha Achari, secretary, Dakshina Kannada unit of the party, said that the party had staged protests thrice in the last year seeking the sites. The MLA, in the manifesto for the Assembly election, had promised that vacant government land would be identified in the city and it would be reserved for the sites.

Recently, the MLA said that 11-acre land had been identified near Kannur for building apartments for the poor. But no steps have been taken to turn that into reality.

He said that the Union government on the other hand was attempting to take away the land of poor farmers through an Ordinance for land acquisition for development projects.

Some of the rich in the city have encroached upon government land, but no steps have been taken against them, he said.

Sunil Kumar Bajal, secretary, Mangaluru City South Committee of the party threatened that the party would lay siege to the house of the MLA, if the sites were not allotted.

Addressing the protesters, Mr. Lobo said that the city corporation has received more than 1,200 applications seeking the sites. The process of allocation would start soon. He said that a blueprint has been prepared for constructing ‘ground plus two’ type apartment blocks in Kannur. About 500 applicants would be accommodated in it in the first phase.

Each flat would cost Rs. 4 lakh. The government would grant Rs. 1.20 lakh and the city corporation would grant Rs. 20,000 per each flat. The balance amount would have to be borne by beneficiaries through bank loan, he said.