PMAY: Hundreds of beneficiaries likely to be discarded after Nov 20?

Aurangabad, Oct 20:

If the sources are to be believed the names of hundreds of beneficiaries selected under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) launched by the union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) are likely to be discarded from the ambitious scheme due to cold response, after November 20, 2021!

The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) invited applications from eligible aspirants in 2016. It received 80, 518 applications online. Of which, 12,000 applications were from citizens who either own a plot or an old and dilapidated condition house in the city. After scrutiny, the PMAY's technical cell in AMC shortlisted 731 beneficiaries and sent for approval to the concerned ministry in the union and the State. The scheme got officially sanctioned in 2019. As per norms, it was supposed to be completed in one year (2020), but due to pandemic situations, the implementation was delayed. Now, the situation has been restored, therefore, it has to complete the implementation by year-end.

Funds Distribution

According to the head of PMAY's Technical Cell (AMC) Shaikh Qamar said, " Out of 731 beneficiaries, 343 had obtained the building permission from the Town Planning section of AMC, while the remaining of them had not come forward. The scheme is funded by the Central and State Governments (Rs 2.5 lakh to each beneficiary). Earlier, we received Rs 2.93 crore from the state and we distributed Rs 1 lakh each to 293 beneficiaries after conducting a ground survey. The money encourages them to complete construction till the plinth level. Later on, the Central Government's first instalment of Rs 3.49 crore was received. However, during the fresh survey, we found the construction of 19 beneficiaries did not cross the plinth level. Hence, we distributed Rs 60,000 each to 274 beneficiaries only. Under the PMAY, the beneficiary has to be raised the remaining cost of construction on its own (through a bank loan or other financial resources."

Final Call - Nov 10

" We appeal to the 388 beneficiaries (apart from 343) to submit their files and obtain the building permissions before November 10, 2021. Besides, we will also encourage 69 beneficiaries (out of 343) to start the construction above the plinth level to avoid inconvenience in the release of further funds. The AMC will be submitting the report mentioning final status to the government on November 20," said Shaikh Qamar.

Geo-tagging of properties under PMAY

The AMC has geotagged the properties under the PMAY. The photographs of beneficiaries along with their ongoing constructed properties were uploaded on the PMAY app. " The applicants, applying under PMAY, were told to submit the google map highlighting their location of the property. This helped the AMC's urban planner to verify whether the property of the applicant is falling under any reservation marked by the AMC (under City Development Plan) or is cutting in the road

construction or widening" stressed the officials in PMAY technical cell.

Status of construction (as of today)

Plinth level - 27

Lentil level - 46

Completion level - 145

Slab level - 90

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PMAY was launched in India way back in 2015. The Mission - Housing for All - aim at overcoming the urban housing shortage amongst the economical weaker section (EWS), Low Income Group (LIG) and Medium Income Group (MIG) categories including the slum-dwellers. It was expected that all eligible urban poor should get a pucca house by the year 2022 - as India will be completing 75 years of its independence.