India, April 1 -- Tripura chief minister Manik Saha on Tuesday said families which live beyond the India-Bangladesh border fence in the state's Matinagar area were offered houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana but they declined the offer and opted to stay in their existing houses.

Saha told the assembly that of 75 families that stay outside the barbed wire fencing at Matinagar area, 31 families were given PMAY houses in 2018 inside the fencing area, but they refused to shift.

"Among these 31 houses, 25 ones were built on Indian soil inside the fence on Indian soil. But they are still staying outside the fence. These 31 families even applied for electricity connections, but the remaining 44 families use hook-lines to get access to ...