Housing Scheme: Nabanna Directs District Magistrates To Expedite Sanction Process

 Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi on Wednesday directed the District Magistrates (DM) to speed up the process of sanctioning households under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) so that the remaining 84 per cent of sanctions can be given within December 31.

Dwivedi held a virtual meeting with the DMs on Wednesday morning and it was found that 16 per cent of houses have been sanctioned under PMAY. The total target allocated in this regard has been 11,36,488 out of which 1,81,982 have received sanctioning which is only 16.01 per cent. In Purulia, Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad, Murshidabad, Alipurduar and South Dinajpur less than 5 per cent sanction has been done, In the case of South Dinajpur, Nadia and West Burdwan this figure is 5 to 10 per cent while for Malda, South 24-Parganas, East Burdwan, Jalpaiguri and Hooghly 10-15 per cent sanction has been given. During the house-to-house verification, the total remand percentage has been 29.85. In districts like North Dinajpur, Jhargram and South Dinajpur there has been above 40 per cent deletion of names of beneficiaries from the previous list.

In the case of Murshidabad, Birbhum, North 24-Parganas, Howrah, Cooch Behar and East Midnapore the deletion has been above 30 per cent.

The Chief Secretary has further directed that all the houses sanctioned must be completed within this financial year that ends on March 31, 2023.

The construction timeline upto window sill level is within 40 days, within the lintel level is within 35 days with the completion of the house and verification within another 15 days.

Delay in geotagging and house verification, delay in the release of payment and poor expenditure have been identified as major reasons for the delay in the process. Following this, the Chief Secretary has directed to lay special emphasis on timely geo-tagging. He has also instructed for holding sensitisation meetings with beneficiaries, no delay in fund disbursement, one-day training to all stakeholders, availability of brick, cement and sand, mason training and availability and periodical house visit by Awaas Bandhu.