Bhubaneswar, July 12: The Naveen Patnaik government’s sop opera goes on with elections less than a year away.

In its latest act, around 2 lakh people in the below poverty line (BPL) category are set to receive galvanised alumina sheets worth a maximum of Rs 20, 000 each to revamp their thatched homes.

The move, which comes in the wake of a series of similar giveaways from the government in recent months, seems to have been inspired by Naveen’s father Biju Patnaik’s resounding victory in the 1961 Assembly polls. Patnaik senior had promised tile roof sheets and piped water to voters. He had won an absolute majority.

Panchayati raj minister Kalpataru Das said the government had decided to give people galvanised alumina sheets instead of cash as they had a tendency to fritter away money. “It is going to cost us around Rs 20,000 per beneficiary. But it’s better to give them something in kind instead of cash,” he said.

The first phase of the programme — targeted at the BPL population of Kandhamal, Gajapati and the eight KBK districts — will be launched within a fortnight. The minister said the number of beneficiaries would go up in the second phase for which a date was yet to be decided. The programme would set the exchequer back by Rs 300 crore.