E-Paper
Cabinet clears extension of rural housing scheme
Till November 29, 16.5 million PMAY-G houses had been constructed, said the government.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the continuation of the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G) till March 2024, saying the flagship national programme to provide financial assistance for building houses in rural regions needed another three years to meet targets. The original deadline of the scheme was 2022.
Union information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur told reporters that the central government will provide financial support for constructing the remaining 15.5 million houses, out of the targeted 29.5 million “pucca houses”. The number of houses pending completion was 15.5 million as on March 31, 2021.
“The continuation of scheme till March 2024 ensures that the remaining 155.75 lakh (15.575 million) households within overall target of 2.95 crore (29.5 million) houses under PMAY-G would be provided assistance for construction of pucca houses with basic amenities to achieve the objective of “Housing for All” in rural areas,” said a government statement, released after the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Till November 29, 16.5 million PMAY-G houses had been constructed, said the government. By August 2022, the original deadline of the scheme, 20.2 million houses will be ready.
The government said that in order to complete the remaining houses, PMAY-G will continue till March 2024 as per existing norms.
“The total financial implication for construction of the remaining 155.75 lakh (15.575 million) houses is Rs. 2,17,257 crore (central share ₹1,25,106 crore and state share Rs.73,475 crores) for achieving cumulative targets of 2.95 crore (29.5 million) houses in rural areas under the PMAY-G and an additional requirement of Rs.18,676 crore towards the interest repayment to NABARD,” said the statement.
The expenditure for the scheme is shared 60:40 between the Centre and the states for all states other than Himalayan states and those in the north-east, for whom the split is 90:10. The split is also 90:10 for union territories.
The government also said that an additional ₹45 lakh administrative funds (to manage the scheme) will be given to each smaller state every year. These are Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand, the North-East states except Assam and Tripura, and all Union Territories except Jammu & Kashmir . This amount will be over and above 1.7 % administrative funds (1.7% of the funds given for the scheme) released.
The aim of the scheme, launched in 2016 was to provide a proper house to all houseless individuals or to those families living in so-called kutcha houses. Households are selected on the basis of the socia economic and caste census of 2011, and verified by local authorities.
“I don’t see an extension, unless they have or had a plan to close the scheme. This scheme has always existed. Hence the word ‘extension’ doesn’t mean anything. The government is basically just saying that the program is going to continue. I don’t see any announcement of extension in this.” said Himangshu, professor, Jawahar Lal Nehru University.
