Chennai, Dec 21 As the state edges closer to the 2026 Assembly election, the DMK government is moving at full throttle to complete the second phase of its flagship Kalaignar Kanavu Illam (KKI) housing programme -- a Rs 3,500-crore initiative aimed at replacing huts with permanent dwellings across rural Tamil Nadu.
Officials said the construction work has reached the final stretch, with 25,657 families already occupying newly built houses and another 74,343 units nearing completion.
The administration has set an ambitious deadline, promising that all remaining beneficiaries will receive their homes by the first week of February.
“The second phase will be fully delivered by early February,” a senior official from the panchayat raj and rural development department confirmed.
The pace of implementation is being closely tracked at the highest levels of bureaucracy. Chief Secretary N. Muruganandam and Principal Secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi are holding weekly reviews -- an unusually rigorous monitoring schedule for a rural housing scheme -- underscoring its priority status within the government’s welfare agenda.
Launched in March 2024, the Kanavu Illam project seeks to create a ‘hut-free Tamil Nadu’ by 2030. A government survey had earlier mapped nearly eight lakh huts statewide, highlighting the scale of the housing deficit the scheme aims to address.
A distinctive feature of KKI is its beneficiary-led construction model. Instead of awarding bulk contracts, the government credits funds directly to selected families in four instalments, empowering them to hire workers and oversee construction themselves. Each household receives assistance of Rs 3.5 lakh.
This approach, officials said, has reduced the scope for delays and given beneficiaries greater control over quality and timelines. The scheme has drawn strong demand, particularly in northern districts, including Tiruvannamalai, Cuddalore and Villupuram, and across the delta region -- areas with a higher concentration of hut settlements.
Should the government meet its self-imposed February target, it would mark a significant milestone: one lakh homes completed in the second phase alone, with total beneficiaries touching two lakh since the launch.
As Tamil Nadu enters election mode, the achievement is expected to feature prominently in the DMK’s campaign messaging, offering the party a tangible welfare accomplishment to showcase -- one that combines scale, speed, and grassroots participation in rural housing transformation.
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