Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday, 28 July formally urged the Centre to allocate 11,56,915 rural houses to Telangana under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), pressing the case during a meeting with Union Minister for Rural Development and Agriculture Shivraj Singh Chouhan in New Delhi. The demand is backed by a state-conducted survey using the Centre's own Awaas+ app, which identified the eligible families.

What Revanth Reddy Told the Union Minister

The Chief Minister briefed Chouhan on the progress of Indiramma Houses — Telangana's flagship scheme for housing the poor — and argued that the previous state government's failure to utilise PMAY-G had left lakhs of rural families without homes for nearly a decade. Revanth Reddy said the state has since prioritised housing for the poor and that the survey data, generated through the Union Ministry's own Awaas+ application, provides a verified baseline for the allocation request.

Chouhan reportedly responded positively to the housing concerns, according to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO). Revanth Reddy also extended a personal invitation to the Union Minister to visit Telangana and assess ground conditions.

Employment Guarantee and Livelihood Demands

Beyond housing, the Chief Minister raised concerns about rural employment, particularly in the context of El Nino conditions affecting rainfall and agricultural work. He requested Chouhan to expand the scope of the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajivika Mission (Rural) — VB-G-RAM-G — to include additional livelihood activities.

Revanth Reddy specifically sought inclusion of work such as construction of vegetable trellis structures, fodder plot development, mulberry cultivation, silkworm rearing sheds, kitchen gardens, and bamboo plantations on farmers' lands. He argued these activities would directly benefit Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), small and marginal farmers, and agricultural labourers facing work shortages due to deficient rainfall.

MGNREGS Linkage and Flood-Damaged Land

The Chief Minister also highlighted a convergence opportunity: under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), beneficiaries of Indiramma Houses can undertake up to 90 days of work during the house construction phase. Given high demand for employment, Revanth Reddy requested approval for additional works under the VB-G-RAM-G scheme to absorb this labour.

He further flagged the urgent need to include construction of water-retention trenches on hill slopes, moisture-conservation trenches for existing plantations and orchards, and restoration of flood and sand-casting-damaged lands within the scheme's permissible works list.

Who Was Present

The delegation accompanying the Chief Minister included Members of Parliament Dr Mallu Ravi, Vem Narendar Reddy, Porika Balaram Naik, Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, Ramasahayam Raghuram Reddy, Suresh Shetkar, Gaddam Vamshi Krishna, and M. Anil Kumar Yadav, along with Chief Minister's Advisor Ramakrishna Rao and Secretary (Coordination) Advait Kumar Singh.

With Chouhan's response described as positive, the next step will be whether the Centre formally approves the allocation — a decision that could directly affect nearly 12 lakh rural families in Telangana.