Udupi : Legislator Pramodh Madhwaraj said that as many as 771 homeless people have been shortlisted in the first round in the Assembly constituency.

He added that following the process, the names will be displayed, calling for objection. The legislator was speaking at a meeting to review the selection process of beneficiaries for the allocation of sites.

“The selection criteria have been scrutinised closely prior to consideration. The beneficiaries should be in rented houses without any land of their own. As many as 2,712 applications were received within Udupi City Municipal Council limits. Of these, 457 beneficiaries have been selected. In the rural areas, as many as 2,249 applications were received and 314 beneficiaries selected,” said Madhwaraj.

“The list will be displayed at the taluk office and the City Municipal Council office in the urban areas and at gram panchayat offices in rural areas,” he said, adding that 30 acres of land have been earmarked at Uppur, Cherkadi, Kalthur and Nalkaru-Nancharu and that, of these, 22 acres of land are yet to be handed over to the government.

Madhwaraj said that the Udupi Assembly constituency should prove a role model for the selection of beneficiaries to allocate sites in the State, with the officials carrying out the work with transparency.

He said that the beneficiaries should submit affidavits declaring that they do not own any land, and warned that the beneficiaries swearing to false facts in the affidavits invite criminal action. The village accountants will also be accountable for the false recommendations, he added.

“Beneficiaries in the city municipality areas, who would be willing to reside in rural areas will be given priority, while initially 500 people in the list will be considered at the earliest,” he promised.

Madhwaraj said that there was shortage of government land in the City Municipality limits and added that CMC should purchase land.

“As there is need for 4.5 acres within the City Municipality limits, the Municipality has to pay the amount decided by the deputy commissioner. The Rajiv Gandhi Vasati Yojana, however, will offer up to Rs 15 lakh for an acre of land. The City Municipality will receive Rs 67 lakh, while the remaining amount – which should be about Rs 93 lakh – has to be borne by the City Municipality. Currently, 1.9 acre of land has been identified in Puttur, while an additional 1.9 acre is identified at Shivalli, under the City Municipality limits,” he explained.

He said once the finalised first list is out – which is open for objections, if any – the people can directly contact the tahsildar, the CMC commissioner and the taluk panchayat EO to submit their objections. The process will take another one month, he added.

Madhwaraj added that 20 acres of land, identified in Uppur, would be used to accommodate 400 beneficiaries. He instructed officials to work out on layout designs and engineering plans. “Around 20 sites can be covered in one acre of land. Pending applications that have been received till October 31 should be shortlisted and reviewed by November end,” he added.

Taluk Panchayat executive officer Rajendra Bekal said that the gram panchayat should keep at least two to three sites for itself for future utilisation.