Raipur: In a letter addressed to prime minister Narendra Modi, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, has requested the allocation of housing targets for the remaining houses on the waiting list under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in the state. Additionally, he has urged the prime minister to allocate a housing target for 8.20 lakh beneficiary families under the Awas Plus scheme in the state.
According to Baghel’s letter, there are currently a total of 18,75,585 beneficiaries registered in the permanent waiting list (rural) under the PMAY, as per the Socio-Economic Caste Census-2011 (SECC-2011). Out of these, 11,76,146 beneficiaries have been approved for housing from the waiting list until 2016-2023, with approximately 73.5 percent (8,63,567 houses) successfully allocated under the scheme. However, there are still 6,99,439 families awaiting allocation to achieve the target.
Furthermore, the target of 7,81,999 houses allotted for the year 2021-22 was withdrawn by the Government of India, and despite a request from the state government to reallocate these houses in installments, there has been no response from the central government. In the year 2022-23, the state was only provided with a target of 79,000 houses.
Baghel highlighted that Chhattisgarh has maintained a leading position in completing the housing targets, even amid the challenging circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. The average annual expenditure for PMAY against the estimated annual budget has reflected the state’s promising performance since the inception of the scheme.
To meet the target of 2,36,813 houses approved by the state government in 2020-21 and 2022-23, a provision of Rs. 3,238.00 crore has been made in the budget of 2023-24, of which Rs. 674.75 crore has been released. The funds have been transferred to the beneficiaries in installments.
Due to the lack of approval for the remaining houses on the waiting list, the state government could not approve the 8,19,999 beneficiaries of Awas Plus either. Therefore, Mr. Baghel requested that both the remaining houses on the waiting list and the Awas Plus beneficiaries be approved by the central government.
Chief minister emphasized that Chhattisgarh has performed commendably under the PMAY Urban scheme, with 51 per cent of the sanctioned houses already allocated and the process for the remaining houses in progress. The state government has provided 88 per cent of the required funds for these houses, indicating its commitment to the scheme.
In light of these facts, Baghel urged the prime minister to approve both the 6,99,439 families on the existing permanent waiting list and the 8,19,999 families under Awas Plus, to ensure the successful fulfillment of the scheme’s objectives in the state.
