The Telangana government will organise Diwali celebrations in Indiramma houses on Sunday, with elected representatives and officials asked to visit beneficiaries who have moved into newly completed homes, Housing Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy said at a media conference in Medchal-Malkajgiri district on Wednesday.
The programme will involve public representatives, district collectors, housing department officials and members of Indiramma house committees. The minister said the visits would mark the festival with families who had received and occupied homes under the state’s Indiramma housing scheme.
According to Srinivas Reddy, the government has completed and handed over 2,21,500 houses to beneficiaries. A further 1.9 lakh houses sanctioned under the scheme’s first phase are at different stages of construction. The first phase covers 4.50 lakh houses, the minister said.
The minister unveiled a poster titled “Deepavali Celebrations in Our Indiramma House” for the initiative. He said Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and the state Cabinet would support the programme. Srinivas Reddy described the lamp lit in each Indiramma house as a symbol of the government’s stated commitment to providing dignity and security to poor families.
The government has also sanctioned another 2.50 lakh houses under the second phase, according to the minister. In addition, one lakh houses have been sanctioned for the Hyderabad Core Urban Region, referred to as CURE in the announcement.
The state plans to extend the Indiramma Towers model beyond Hyderabad. G+5 structures are proposed in Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Nalgonda. Srinivas Reddy said notifications for the construction of these towers would be issued before Diwali. The announcement did not specify the number of units, project costs for each city or construction timelines for the proposed towers.
The minister said the Indiramma housing scheme would be implemented at an estimated cost of ₹40,000 crore and that the programme would continue without interruption. Financial assistance is being credited directly to beneficiaries’ bank accounts every Monday, which he said was intended to ensure transparency in disbursement.
The housing programme covers both urban and rural areas, including remote villages and tribal habitations. The government’s latest figures place the scheme across different stages of delivery, from completed and handed-over houses to sanctioned units under construction and new allocations under the second phase.
Srinivas Reddy also said Bonalu celebrations would be held from the Hyderabad Indiramma Towers next year. The immediate Diwali programme will proceed on Sunday, when officials and public representatives are expected to visit beneficiaries living in completed Indiramma houses.
