Investing a central scheme with a load of distasteful politics, the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh has decided to use ceramic tiles bearing faces of the Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in all homes built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in the State.
Nearly three lakh homes are set to be built in the state’s urban areas as part of the scheme. “The tiles will be fairly large – 45×60 cm,” a TOI report informed on Wednesday. “One will be placed at the entrance and the other in the kitchen, say sources.”
Over 2.86 lakh houses are proposed to be built in urban areas of MP under PMAY, for which the Centre is contributing around Rs 5,000 crore, TOI further said.
The State’s urban administrative department has orders from “the highest level” to make sure that two ceramic tiles 45X60 cm large are flanked in the kitchen and entrance of the PMAY homes with Modi and Chouhan’s picture embossed on it on either side, the Times of India report said.
The design sample has been sent with a letter to each district, instructing all chief commissioners and executive officers to ensure that the tiles are made to the exact specifications provided by the government.
The TOI report stated that “as per the instructions given by the CM in the meeting held on January 2, 2018”, UAD additional commissioner Manju Sharma said, “Civic bodies have been asked to fix tiles so that people should know under which scheme their houses were built.”