New Delhi, November 14:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will transfer the first installment of the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G) on Sunday to more than 1.47 lakh beneficiaries of Tripura. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) issued a notification in this regard earlier this week, stating, “more than ₹700 crore will be credited directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries on the occasion.”
The scheme is an ambitious mission of the Modi government aimed at providing “housing for all”. It aims to achieve the housing objective as India completes 75 years of Independence by 2022.
The definition of what qualifies as a “kaccha” house (having structures constructed of bamboo, clay, grass, flax, pebbles, mulch, crop residues, and the likes) has been changed specifically for a state, the PMO said, considering the unique geo-climatic condition of Tripura. This was done following the direct intervention of the Prime Minister, and it has enabled a large number of beneficiaries living in “kaccha” houses in the state to get assistance to construct a “pucca” house (consisting of strong structures made of wood, bricks, cement, iron rods, and steel).
Last year, Tripura was adjudged the ‘best-performing state’ in the north-eastern region and hilly states category under the central government’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) scheme. Now, the PMAY-G scheme aims to improve the lives of beneficiaries in the rural areas, too.
The PMAY-G was created to provide pucca houses to every homeless poor in rural areas. The Centre’s performance audit this year had noted that Chhattisgarh, Assam, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu have huge gaps in pending sanctions and need to expedite the daily rate of sanctions to achieve the target.
The audit added that “while the lockdown due to Covid-19 was largely an unavoidable factor”, intense follow-ups are being done with the states/UTs which are lagging behind.
