The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will provide financial, technical and managerial assistance to the Odisha government to construct 30 lakh pucca houses in the state. The houses would be constructed by 2019. This proposal was discussed at a meeting between Panchayati Raj minister Arun Sahu and UNDP country head Jaco Cilliers and other officials of UNDP in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. The government is giving stress on providing the proposed pucca houses to beneficiaries within the allocated time. The houses would be cyclone-resistant. It was decided in the meeting that a vision document would be prepared by UNDP regarding this. Such an interest of UNDP to support the state government was welcomed by the Panchayati Raj minister. Notably, the BJD government had announced in its election manifesto that it would provide pucca houses under the Biju pucca ghar scheme to all the poor people in the state.