With the panchayat polls over in Bihar, the rural development department of the state is all set to sanction 11 lakh new units under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) for the year 2021-22 having suffered delays in taking up new construction of pucca houses for economically weaker section due to the restriction put by State Election Commission (SEC), officials said.
“We will be sanctioning 11 lakh new units as per the target of this year in January. All preparations have been made and constructions would start soon,” said principal secretary, rural development department (RDD), Arvind Kumar Chaudhary.
The state government had a target of sanctioning 11 lakh new houses in this fiscal year including beneficiaries listed under the permanent waiting list (PWL), however, owing to the panchayat polls, restrictions were put on sanctioning of new units.
“There has been a delay but we have directed all DMs to ensure that the list of beneficiaries selected as per this year’s target is approved by the gram panchayat by mid-January. The final list will be approved by January 22 and we target to give the first instalment to all beneficiaries by January 25,” said a senior officer engaged in the implementation of the housing scheme.
As per the latest data issued by the ministry of rural development on December 14, 2021, Bihar’s has completed 19 lakh units of houses in the last three financial years from 2018-19 to 2020-21. The state government has a target of completing 32 lakh plus homes in this fiscal year by adding another 13-14 lakh units including a backlog of previous years, officials said.
{{/usCountry}}As per the latest data issued by the ministry of rural development on December 14, 2021, Bihar’s has completed 19 lakh units of houses in the last three financial years from 2018-19 to 2020-21. The state government has a target of completing 32 lakh plus homes in this fiscal year by adding another 13-14 lakh units including a backlog of previous years, officials said.
{{/usCountry}}Officials said the PMAY(G) implementation is better in terms of construction of units in Bihar as compared to many states, but there still exists a backlog of 4.50 lakh units (unfinished), ostensibly due to the obstructions caused in construction activity owing to the Covid-19 pandemic from 2020, fund shortage and also migration of the beneficiaries.
According to reports, states like Chhattisgarh, Assam, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu have a high rate of outstanding units against sanctioned units under PMAY(G), which is a centrally sponsored scheme to provide pucca houses to the economically weaker sections with centre giving 60% of percent while states sharing 40% of funds.
Incidentally, RDD officials said the state government had drawn up a timeline to ensure completion of at least 50% of the fresh units to be sanctioned by March 2022 by directing officials to monitor the construction activity by beneficiaries closely at the village level.
“We hope to clear the backlog of units soon. Besides, we are focusing on increasing the pace of construction so that the high percentage of new units to be sanctioned is on the ground by March,” said the RDD principal secretary. Under PMAY(G), each beneficiary gets 1.20 lakh in non-Naxal affected districts while in Naxal infested districts, the total assistance is ₹1.30 lakh.