Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday said if the Union government did not conduct a survey of eligible beneficiaries for a housing scheme, the state government will carry it out itself. Replying to the debate on the motion of thanks on the Governor's address in the Legislative Assembly, Baghel said his government was committed to providing pucca houses to all eligible beneficiaries. The motion of thanks was passed after discussion. The last Census took place in 2011 and it was necessary to collect information about the changes in the lives of common citizens so that eligible beneficiaries could get the benefit of welfare schemes, the chief minister said.

The Union government should ascertain the details of constructed pucca houses, and toilets built under the Swachh Bharat mission, benefits under the Ujjwala gas Scheme, `doubling' of farmers' income, household electrification, and the status of employment of beneficiaries of skill development programs in the last 12 years, he said. Members of the opposition (BJP and others) should join him to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and urge them to conduct the Census, Baghel said. As many as 8.44 lakh houses have been constructed in Chhattisgarh under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural), he said. Against the target of 11,76,150 houses, 11,76, 067 houses or 99.99 percent of the target have been sanctioned, he added.

Further, 71.79 percent of houses have been completed and Chhattisgarh was better than Assam, Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka on this score, the CM said. “If the Central government does not conduct a survey of eligible beneficiaries under the housing scheme, then the state government will hold a fresh survey between April 1 and June 30,” he added.