PM Modi and the chief minister's image will be on tiles in kitchen and entrance of the houses.
Around 3 lakh families in Madhya Pradesh who will receive government housing under a welfare scheme, will now have a 24x7 reminder of their benefactors. The state government has decided to install special ceramic tiles bearing images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan inside the houses. The tiles, which will be placed at the entrance and the kitchen, will also carry the slogan "Sabka Sapna, Ghar Ho Apana" (Everybody dreams of their own home).
A government order -- issued on April 4 from the state's urban administration ministry -- made this mandatory. The order said municipal commissioners and chief municipal officers should ensure that the two 450X600 mm tiles be installed in each house built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
The scheme to provide heavily subsidised houses, launched in 2015, is part of NDA government's plan to ensure housing for all by 2022. Initially meant for economically weaker sections with annual income below Rs 3 lakh, it has now been expanded to include the low and middle income groups as well.
The opposition Congress in the state has vociferously opposed the government plan, calling it politicization of welfare schemes.
"This is a government-run scheme meant for the poor and it should not be politicised. The ruling party is setting a wrong precedent," Ajay Singh, leader of opposition in the state assembly, was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.
The state BJP, however, insists that nothing is wrong with the plan.
"There was no intention of politicising any issue," state BJP spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal was quoted as saying by PTI. "This is the first time in the country's history that a target has been set to provide a house to every poor. There is nothing wrong if the pictures of the PM and the CM are being put up at the entrance and inside the kitchen."