Only 675 from Chandigarh received PMAY Scheme benefits in three years

The issue came up in the Lok Sabha, with minister of state for housing and urban affairs Kaushal Kishore, providing the scheme-related data for Chandigarh

{Limited success} Chandigarh

Only 675 people from Chandigarh received the PMAY Scheme benefits in three years. (HT File)

Even though the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) - Housing for All (Urban) scheme was launched in 2017, only 675 people received the financial benefit under the scheme in the city and an amount of around ₹15 crore has been disbursed in the last three years.

The issue came up in the Lok Sabha, with minister of state for housing and urban affairs Kaushal Kishore, providing the scheme-related data for Chandigarh.

The minister said the scheme period of PMAY-U, which was earlier up to March, 2022, has been extended till December 31, 2024, except the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) vertical.

Notably, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB), which was the nodal agency for the scheme, had finalised around 8,000 beneficiaries. A 98-acre land, meanwhile, had also been identified to build flats at Maloya, Dhanas and Mauli Jagran.

The four components of the PMAY scheme include a credit-linked subsidy, in-situ development of slums, beneficiary-led construction, wherein those from the economically weaker sections (EWS) are paid ₹95 lakh for construction, and an opportunity to build individual houses under an affordable housing scheme. Two of these components, however, have not been implemented yet.

The UT administration had in March 2017 launched the PMAY - Housing for All (Urban) scheme. A year later, the ministry of home affairs restricted the UT administration to allow selling of the land at the rate lower than on which it was acquired, forcing it to scrap the scheme in 2020.

Affordable housing, a concern

Last year in November, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its vision document ‘Chandigarh 2030 and Beyond’ had mentioned that affordable housing had always remained a concern in the city.

There is a gap between demand and supply of affordable housing across Chandigarh and its neighbouring regions. Chandigarh as a city has been dealing with a steady influx of population over the years, leading to the accelerated demand for affordable housing, the report says.

The rural-urban divide is widening, further adding to the disparity in living conditions of marginalised sections, it adds.

Property Federation Chandigarh president Kamaljit Singh Panchhi said the lack of affordable housing options in the city has forced people to head to Mohali and Panchkula.

“CHB, a government body that was set up with an idea to provide reasonably-priced decent housing for the middle and lower-middle class, has made itself a money-minting machine. It acts as a real-estate agent and the price of CHB houses are at the all-time high, which is beyond the reach of the common man,” he added.