Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana

General Studies Paper- 2

Context: The Cabinet has decided to further expand the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and construct 3 crore additional rural and urban houses.

About Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)

• The Government of India has been implementing Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana since 2015-16 to provide assistance to the eligible rural and urban households for construction of houses with basic amenities.
  • All the houses constructed under PMAY are provided the other basic amenities such as Household Toilets, LPG connection, Electricity connection, Functional Household Tap Connection etc. through convergence with other schemes of Central Government and State Governments.
• It has two components, PMAY-U for the urban poor and PMAY-G and PMAY-R for the rural poor.

PMAY-Urban :

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has been implementing PMAY-U under ‘Housing for All’ Mission since June, 2015 by giving Central assistance to implementing agencies through States/Union Territories (UTs) for providing all-weather pucca houses with basic civic amenities to all eligible urban beneficiaries.
• It is a demand driven scheme and the Government of India has not fixed any target for construction of houses.
• It is being implemented through four verticals i.e., Beneficiary Led Construction (BLC), Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP), In-Situ Slum Redevelopment (ISSR) and Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS).
• Government of India is providing its fixed share as Central Assistance of ₹0 lakh under ISSR, ₹1.5 lakh for AHP and BLC verticals of PMAY-U.

PMAY-Gramin: 

• In order to achieve the target of “Housing for All” in rural areas, the Ministry of Rural Development is implementing PMAY-G with effect from 1st April 2016 to provide assistance to eligible rural households with an overall target to construct 2.95 crore pucca houses with basic amenities by March, 2024.
• Under PMAY-G, beneficiaries are provided financial Assistance of Rs.1.20 lakh in plain areas and Rs.1.30 lakh in hilly States (including North-eastern States and UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh), difficult areas and Integrated Action Plan (IAP) districts. Additional assistance of Rs.12,000/- is extended for construction of toilets.

Importance and Progress

• In a nation where millions dream of owning a home, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) emerges as a beacon of hope.
• It stands as a testament to the government’s commitment to providing affordable housing and improving the quality of life.
• It is not just a housing scheme but a mission to empower citizens with a sense of dignity and security.
• Under PMAY, a total of 4.21 Crore houses have been completed for the eligible poor families under the housing schemes in the last 10 years.