Govt gives nod to housing scheme for OBCs

The scheme, Modi Awas Gharkul Yojana (MAGY), was announced by deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was the finance minister, in his budget presented in March

Mumbai: The Shinde-Fadnavis government recently gave its nod to construct 10 lakh houses at a cost of ₹12,000 crore over the next three years for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) in the state.

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The scheme, Modi Awas Gharkul Yojana (MAGY), was announced by deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was the finance minister, in his budget presented in March.

“The MAGY has been launched to accommodate the applicants left out of PM Awas Yojana (PMAY). The applicants not covered in PMAY and are from SC or ST category have other dedicated housing schemes in their departments. The OBCs left out of PMAY had no such support. The MAGY announced by the deputy CM takes care of such aspirants,” said an official from the housing department.

The scheme, which applies to rural beneficiaries with an annual income of less than ₹1.20 lakh, has aimed at constructing three lakh houses until March 2024. In the second year, 2024-25, three lakh more houses are planned to be constructed, while in the third year, four lakh houses are planned to be constructed. The state government has decided to spend ₹3,600 each for the first two years and ₹4,800 crore in the third year on the scheme.

The scheme will be available to the OBC families with no house of their own and the ones who have land available for construction. The state has also made the provision of ₹50,000 for the purchase of land for the landless beneficiaries. The applicants can avail additional ₹12,000 for the construction of the toilet under Swachh Bharat Yojana and labour costs under the employment guarantee scheme (EGS) to make the construction feasible.

A committee headed by the chief executive officer of the district council has been appointed as the nodal agency to implement the housing scheme in the rural parts.