The Mayawati Government is planning to distribute one lakh houses to the urban poor. The apartments will be given either free or for a nominal price-this year. The houses will be built under the Kanshi Ram Shastri Garib Awaz Yojna, which Ms. Mayawati had announced last month on the anniversary of the formation of the first BSP Government in the state in 1995. The houses will be compact with two-rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. "The Government will construct one-lakh houses for poor people every year. Each house, costing Rs 1.75 lakh, will be built in an area of 20 square metre," informed an official from the Urban Development Department. The priority will be given to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes with a special provision for the poor belonging to upper castes, shelter-less widows and the handicapped.