C Shivakumar By Express News Service CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu government has asked the Cooperative Housing department to identify dormant and heavy loss-making housing societies and liquidate those that do not have a possibility of revival. This comes after the department has 537 housing societies, out of the total 733, that are running in losses and have pending accumulated loans totalling Rs 2,839.74 crore. Official sources said that during a review of the department recently, the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu expressed concern over the losses made by cooperative societies. He had said dormant and heavy loss-making societies should be liquidated. It is learnt that 45 housing societies are dormant. Of the 733 cooperative housing societies, 565 are in urban areas and 168 in rural areas. Madurai has the maximum 97 of the 102 housing societies which are running in loss. It is learnt that the Chief Secretary has asked the department to sell off the land assets of the societies to recover losses. He had also urged the department that existing societies should promote layout schemes in urban and semi-urban areas. While the department claims to have helped build 11.65 lakh houses at a cost of Rs 4,845 crore, a total of 57,387 members who had taken loan of Rs 1,108 crore are yet to pay back an outstanding amount of nearly Rs 2,839 crore which includes interest. Financing pattern of TN cooperative housing body Tamil Nadu Cooperative Housing Federation was registered as an apex body in the State and acts as a financing bank for all affiliated primary cooperative housing societies. The financing pattern of the body is to provide a maximum loan of Rs 2.5 lakh for economic weaker sector, Rs 6 lakh for low-income group, Rs 18 lakh for middle-income group and Rs 20 lakh for high-income group.

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