Context:
Pulling up the States for the delay in completion of the Narendra Modi government’s flagship rural household scheme — Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) — the Union Ministry of Rural Development has come up with a set of penalties that the State governments will have to bear for any further delay.
Relevance:
GS II- Welfare Schemes
Dimensions of the Article:
- About Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana
- Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana- Gramin (PMAY-G)
- What are the reasons for delay?
About Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana
- Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Launched on 25th June 2015) is an initiative by Government of India in which affordable housing will be provided to the urban poor with a target of building 20 million affordable houses by 31 March 2022.
- It has two components i.e. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) (PMAY-U) for the urban poor and Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Gramin) (PMAY-G and also PMAY-R) for the rural poor.
- This scheme is converged with other schemes to ensure houses have a toilet, Saubhagya Yojana electricity connection, Ujjwala Yojana LPG gas connection, access to drinking water and Jan Dhan banking facilities, etc.
- The houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana would be constructed through a technology that is eco-friendly, while allotting ground floors in any housing scheme under PMAY, preference will be given to differently abled and older persons.
- 3 Phases of PMAY envisage starting and completing the house construction work i.e. Phase I (2015-2017), Phase II (2017-2019), and Phase III (2019-2022).
Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana- Gramin (PMAY-G)
Nodal : Ministry of Rural Development
- The Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana- Gramin (PMAY-G) was launched to achieve the objective of “Housing for All” by 2022. The erstwhile rural housing scheme Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) was restructured to Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G).
- It will be implemented in rural areas across the country except Delhi and Chandigarh
- PMAY-G aims to provide a pucca house with basic amenities to all rural families, who are homeless or living in kutcha or dilapidated houses by the end of March 2022 and also to help rural people Below the Poverty Line (BPL) in construction of dwelling units and upgradation of existing unserviceable kutcha houses by providing assistance in the form of a full grant.
- People belonging to SCs/STs, freed bonded labourers and non-SC/ST categories, widows or next-of-kin of defence personnel killed in action, ex-servicemen and retired members of the paramilitary forces, disabled persons and minorities will be the target beneficiaries of the PMAY-G.
- Selection of beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) is based on housing deprivation parameters of Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC), 2011, subject to 13 point exclusion criteria, followed by Gram Sabha verification
- The cost of unit assistance is shared between Central and State Governments in the ratio 60:40 in plain areas and 90:10 for North Eastern and hilly states.
What are the reasons for delay?
- The government officials blame the Covid-19 Pandemic for the slowdown.
- The completion rate for houses sanctioned before the Covid-19 pandemic stood around 80%.
- Six States account for 70% of the target units — West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
- Out of them only two States — Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal — have a completion rate above the national average.
- Bihar has one of the lowest completion rates.
- In urban areas, issues such as a lack of clear titles and other land documents tend to crop up. This further slowed down the pace. The same is true for rural areas as well.
-Source: The Hindu
