Bhubaneshwar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday asked the Panchayatiraj Department to complete construction of 20 lakh pucca houses in rural areas by December, this year.

The Chief Minister reviewed the progress in implementation of pucca house scheme which was one of the major poll promises of BJD for the 2014 Assembly election. Official sources said so far construction of 14,11,280 pucca houses has been completed. The ambitious scheme was launched by the State Government in 2014-15 from its own funds.

Asking the department to ensure that actual beneficiaries get benefit from the scheme, Naveen said strong action should be taken against corrupt officials. A release from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) stated that the scheme has got the attention of the entire country and Odisha has become a model State. As many as 1000 pucca houses are being constructed now, the release said.

The Chief Minister asked the department to develop a special App so that names of beneficiaries and houses constructed for them can be uploaded for public knowledge.

Besides providing houses, beneficiaries are being included in different livelihood schemes like goatery, poultry and dairy. Chief Secretary AP Padhi, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Rajesh Verma and Principal Secretary in PR Department Deoranjan Singh were present.