PMAY-Urban: ‘Centre approved 16 lakh houses for minorities in last nine years’
Chandigarh: Aiming to bridge the gap between the affluent and impoverished, the Central government has approved 16 lakh houses for the beneficiaries belonging to minority communities in the last nine years under the supervision of Union Housing and Urban Development minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
Also, 25 lakh houses have been allotted to SC/ST beneficiaries. Besides this, 46 lakh houses have been approved for OBC beneficiaries across the country under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of “housing for all”.
The Central government has specifically allotted houses to slum dwellers. Houses have been sanctioned to 29 lakh slum dwellers across the country with an investment of Rs 1.27 lakh crore, including Rs 44,218 crore from Central assistance.
Khattar has claimed that the houses being built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) are far better than the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The Central government has taken special care of the quality, size, basic amenities of housing, provision of toilets, water and electricity.
JNNURM was slum-centric, while PMAY-Urban is following the concept of “Housing for All”.
The Central government has decided to help three crore additional rural and urban beneficiaries in the construction/purchase of houses in the next five years in its first cabinet meeting on June 10, 2024.
From 2004 to 2014, only 13.46 lakh houses were sanctioned whereas between 2014-24, the BJP government at the Centre has sanctioned 1.20 crore houses, which is nine times more than the previous schemes. The total sanctioned houses include 1 crore houses for EWS, 14 lakh for LIG and 6 lakh houses for MIG.
A total of more than 94 lakh houses have been completed under this scheme so far, which is 10 times higher than the previous schemes.
An investment about 21 times higher of Rs 8 lakh crore was made under PMAY-Urban, including central assistance of Rs 2 lakh crore.
Interest subsidy of Rs 58,868 crore has been released for 25 lakh beneficiaries, which is 2616 times more than the previous schemes.
It is for the first time in the country, interest subsidy of Rs 12,885 crore has been provided to 6 lakh MIG beneficiaries.
This scheme has impacted the lives of women on a large scale by promoting women empowerment.
About 93 lakh houses have been allotted to women or are jointly owned.
