The BJP government in Rajasthan seems to have miserably failed in implementing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). The PMAY envisages affordable housing for all by 2022.
More than two years after it was launched in June 2015, the scheme has failed to pick pace in the state with Vasundhara Raje government achieving just a little over 1% of the set target.
According to the latest PMAY progress report, a target of 2,50,258 houses in 2016-17 and 2,23,629 in 2017-18 was set. Of these 4.73 lakh units, only 5,974 houses have been constructed across the state in the last two years, translating into 1.26% of the target.
The official records show how the project has moved at a snail’s pace. Against the target of 2.50 lakh houses in 2016-17, authorities were able to release the first instalment of the financial assistance for 2.44 lakh beneficiaries, the second instalment for 1.32 lakh beneficiaries and third to only 11,600 beneficiaries.
For the 2017-18, state had set a target of constructing 2.23 lakh units. However, even after lapse of more than five-and-a-half months in the ongoing financial year, authorities haven’t released even the first instalment of the financial assistance to any beneficiary. The construction work of the houses, thus, hasn’t begun in this fiscal.
{{/usCountry}}For the 2017-18, state had set a target of constructing 2.23 lakh units. However, even after lapse of more than five-and-a-half months in the ongoing financial year, authorities haven’t released even the first instalment of the financial assistance to any beneficiary. The construction work of the houses, thus, hasn’t begun in this fiscal.
{{/usCountry}}The financial assistance of Rs 1.48-lakh is released in three instalments. The first instalment of Rs 30,000 is released after successful geo-tagging of the location where the house will come up, and the second instalment of Rs 60,000 after the concerned agency verifies successful utilisation of the first instalment. The remaining amount is released as third instalment for completing the project.
The officials cite the delay in budget allocation as the reason behind the slow progress project implementation. While the project was officially launched in 2015, the Rajasthan government made the budgetary provision for it in 2016-17 fiscal, they claimed.
“Even after getting the budgetary allocation, the first six months were spent in ground level preparations such as creating the list of eligible beneficiaries, verification with the gram sabha, verification of bank accounts and geo-tagging of the location,” said Madanlal Nehra, the chief executive officer of Barmer Zila Parishad.
The officials said that most of the funds for the project were released in the last quarter of 2016-17. Nehra said they are closely monitoring the project and “work is in progress”. He said that the block officials have been directed to speed up the work and ensure that the target is achieved as per the deadline.
Asked about the budgetary allocation for the beneficiaries selected in the current financial year, Nehra said they were yet to get any funds from the government. “We will release the first instalment for the beneficiaries as soon as we get the funds from the government,” he added.
The PM Awas Yojana was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2015 with an aim of constructing more than two crore houses across the length and breadth of the country within next seven years. This means the scheme, launched in 2015, seeks to complete the target by 2022.