Parliamentary panel recommends increasing assistance under PMAY-G
New Delhi: With the ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Gramin’ being extended till March 2029 with an aim to construct two crore additional homes, a Parliamentary standing committee has recommended the assistance provided under the scheme be suitably hiked.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, headed by Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka,
pointed out that the assistance under the scheme had remained stagnant at Rs 1.2 lakh for a considerable period of time, often leading to cases in which the houses remained incomplete.
In a report tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, the panel said the “Housing for All” vision might not achieve its target until the beneficiaries were provided “proper hand-holding” in terms of financial assistance of right value and at the right juncture.
The report also highlighted that more than two lakh landless beneficiaries were still waiting to get land or
assistance from state governments to construct homes, which might also cause delay in hitting the target.
The panel said the per-unit assistance under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Gramin’ (PMAY-G) for plain areas was Rs 1.2 lakh and Rs 1.3 lakh for hilly areas and it had remained static for a considerable period of time.
“With rising inflation having a detrimental effect on the cost factor associated with the raw material, transportation cost, labour cost etc, constructing a new house of the requisite area under PMAY-G for poor and needy beneficiaries with such assistance amount seems to be an arduous task,” the report said.
“Moreover, there are instances wherein houses remain incomplete for want of finance and thereby keeping the target lagging,” it added.
The committee noted that against an initial target of 2.95 crore houses to be constructed by March next year, 2.66 crore were constructed as on October 22 and 29 lakh were yet to be completed.
A target of constructing an additional two crore houses in the next five financial years -- 2024 to 2029 -- has been approved by the government, the report said.
