Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to Fulfil the Dream of 'Housing for All'

Chandan Kumar Choudhary

Praveen hails from Thane district of Maharashtra. Earlier he used to live in a rented house but now he has got his own house due to Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. He says, "I didn't have a house of my own. In such a situation, I used to live in a rented house but today I have my own house due to the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Praveen is a beneficiary of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and he is extremely happy with this step taken by the government. According to him, the help that the government is giving is very important for the common man.

At the same time, Ashiq Hussain, who lives with his family in Khari Kamra, the last border village in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, is one such person who has got the benefit of this scheme. His village is on the border, after which there is no populated area till the border. His family has lived in the shadow of fear of cross-border firing for decades. Many people like Ashiq Hussain, who lived in kutcha houses, were not able to build pucca houses due to their financial condition. In rainy season, the water used to come inside the house and all their belongings would get wet. In such a situation, due to the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, there was a sunrise of change in his life. Hussain says, "During the rainy season, water used to enter the kutcha house. There was a lot of trouble in that. But there is no such problem in a pucca house." He says that he is happy with the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana because the poor have got support and can stand on their feet.

Vimlesh, a resident of Agra, earlier used to live in a kutcha and broken house but now she lives in a pucca and good house at the same place. She tells that they have benefited from the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and live in a new house. A similar story is also of Ram Janki Pal of Kanpur, who works as a milk seller, who has got a house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban. He says that his house was built two years ago. Today, if the dream of the poor of the country and the people who have been living in kutcha and broken houses for centuries is being realized, then it has become possible due to the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Under this, the dream of a pucca house of poor people in both urban and rural places is being fulfilled. Not only this, women empowerment is also possible through this scheme because more and more women are being given the ownership of the house under this scheme. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is divided into two categories. One is Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin which is known as PMAY-G and the other, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Urban which is known as PMAY-U.

PMAY-G will continue till March 2024

Home is such an arrangement, which increases the confidence of the people. Earlier the poor did not believe that the government could help in building a house but now it is becoming possible. One of the flagship programs of the Government of India, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is a program inspired by the noble objective of providing "Housing for All" under which new technologies are being used in the construction of houses.

Through this scheme with social welfare programme, the government aims to provide financial assistance to the homeless beneficiaries and help them build a house of respectable quality. Under this effort, the Union Cabinet on 8 December 2021 approved the continuation of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) beyond March 2021 till March 2024 at an expenditure of Rs 2,17,257 crore. This will ensure 'Housing for All' in rural areas.

 Continuation of this scheme till March 2024 will ensure that the remaining 155.75 lakh families under the overall target of 2.95 crore houses under PMAY-G will be provided financial assistance for construction of 'Pucca Houses' with basic facilities, so as to achieve the objective of 'Housing for All' in rural areas. As of November 29, 2021, out of the target of 2.95 crore houses under PMAY-G, 1.65 crore houses had been constructed. It is estimated that 2.02 crore houses will be completed by the 15 August 2022 deadline. Hence the scheme needs to be continued till March 2024 to achieve the overall target of 2.95 crore houses.

 Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Rural completes 5 years

 Pradhan Mantri Awas YojanaGramin (PMAY-G) was launched on November 20, 2016. Thus Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Gramin, successfully completed 5 years on 20th November, 2021. The Ministry of Rural Development in partnership with the State Government has been striving to meet the target with in the time limit while ensuring the fulfillment of the noble objective of Housing for All. The Government of India had launched the Revised Rural Housing Scheme to achieve the objective of providing "Housing for all" by the year 2022. Under this scheme, a target to build and provide 2.95 crore PMAY-G houses, with all basic amenities, was to be completed by the year 2022.

Fulfillment of aspirations of homeless and poor people through Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas are the fundamental results of the policy. Keeping this in mind, Rs 48,000 crore were allocated for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in the Union Budget 2022 and efforts are being made to achieve the target of building 80 lakh houses. Not only this, the process of construction of light house projects under PMAY (Urban) is also underway in six cities across the country using new technologies to promote affordable housing. This is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been emphasizing that such construction technologies should be encouraged along with other affordable housing projects in both urban and rural areas of the country. Not only this, construction of a house also increases job opportunities and construction of a house gives 314 days of employment. Indeed, residential constr-uction is one of the largest sources of employment in rural areas.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to help in Women empowerment

Empowerment of women is becoming possible through Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and they are also getting ownership rights. Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "I am also happy that in the houses being given under the PM Awas Yojana in the country, more than 80 percent of the houses are owned by women or they are joint owners." These words spoken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi tell the story of women becoming empowered. Due to this women are not only becoming empowered but are also becoming self-reliant. Not only this, the poor are also getting the benefit of many facilities simultaneously from other schemes like Swachh Bharat Mission, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, etc. Who gets the benefit of this scheme! Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, any person with low income who does not have any house can take advantage of it. To fulfill the eligibility of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the beneficiary should not have his own house. Also, the beneficiary person should not have taken advantage of any other housing scheme of the state or central government. Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the government provides houses to the homeless people and at the same time they get subsidy, those who buy a house or flat on loan. Features of PMAY-G Scheme Beneficiaries under PMAY-G are selected on the basis of housing deprivation parameters as per the Socio Economic Caste Census 2011. Also, it gives priority to the homeless, families living in houses with one and two kutcha walls and kutcha roof. If there is any grievance in the selection of the beneficiary, then an appellate process has also been made for its redressal. In this scheme, the amount is sent directly to the accounts of the beneficiaries through DBT. The beneficiaries of the scheme include SC, ST, free bonded labor and non-SC, ST categories, widows or kin of defense personnel killed in action, ex-servicemen and retired members of paramilitary forces, persons with disabilities and minorities. Also, the total cost of this scheme is shared between the Central Government and the State Governments in the ratio of 60:40, while for North Eastern and Himalayan states this amount is shared in the ratio of 90:10. The minimum size of the house to be built under this scheme has been increased from 20 square meters to 25 square meters (including a clean kitchen). Features of PMAY-U Scheme Pradhan Mantri Awas YojanaUrban is implemented under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Modern, innovative and green technologies have been used for speedy and quality construction of houses under this scheme. Also, the process of project preparation and approval as per the guidelines of the Mission has been left to the States so that projects can be prepared and completed faster. Under PMAYU, all households are provided with basic amenities like toilets, water supply, electricity and kitchen. In this scheme, priority is given to persons with disabilities, senior citizens, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes, minorities, single women, transgender and weaker sections of the society. Six years of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U) were completed on 25 June 2021. This scheme was launched in the year 2015 with the objective of providing pucca houses to all eligible beneficiaries of urban India by the year 2022 with the vision of 'Housing for All'. Approval for construction of 1.07 lakh houses under PMAY-U The Central Government gave its approval in December 2021 for the construction of 1.07 lakh houses in five states under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban). The proposal was approved by the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) headed by the then Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra. According to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, project proposals for construction of 1.07 lakh houses have been approved from Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Puducherry and Uttarakhand under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban). Apart from this, the progress of implementation of this scheme in other states was also reviewed. According to the ministry, the total number of houses sanctioned under this mission is now 1.14 crore, out of which more than 53 lakh houses have been distributed to the beneficiaries. The total investment under the mission is Rs 7.52 lakh crore with central assistance of Rs 1.85 lakh crore. So far central assistance of Rs 1.14 lakh crore has been released. Along with this, the Secretary, Housing and Urban Affairs also directed the States and Union Territories to expedite the construction of houses. How to apply for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Application for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana can be done both online and offline. Any person can apply online by visiting the official website of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. He/she must have a valid Aadhar card to apply. Also, any person can apply through offline mode by filling the form available from Common Service Center (CSC). Apart from this, the government has prepared a mobile based housing app, through which applications can also be made. On this app, beneficiaries can load photos and documents of house construction and also get information about the installments they will get.

(The author is a Senior Journalist and Assistant Consultant Editor at New India Samachar. He has previously worked with PTI (Bhasha) and BBC. E-mail- Chandanchoudhary84 @gmail.com)

The views expressed are personal