Nation's rural development notes completion of 1.37 crore homes within four years
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New Delhi, January 18: 'The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership', is what is perfectly said by businessman Harvey Firestone and embraced by the Indian Government during its last four years. With the Lok Sabha polls upfront, the reigns under Ministry of Rural Development have shared a triumphant fact of completion of 1.37 crore rural homes since April 2014.
The success of rural homes programme addresses households directly as the poor not only get a home but also get up to ninety days of employment opportunity under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Their homes are also provided electricity connection under Saubhagya programme and LPG connection under Ujjwala programme besides the households’ toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission/MGNREGS.
On account of all the measures taken including, fair beneficiary selection and misutilization of funds were substantially brought down leading to faster completion of houses. With this convergence of initiatives across Ministries, poor households have got an opportunity to live in an aspirational dwelling with all facilities available to them. It is a life-changing intervention for the poorest of the poor.
“So far 66.6 lakh homes have been completed under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G). The remaining 33.4 lakh homes will be completed by March 2019. As the NIPFP study has indicated, the average time taken from the first instalment to completion for a PMAY-G Home is only 114 days, compared to 314 days earlier”, asserted the official statement.
In partnership with States, the Ministry is confident that with a large number of houses nearing completion and the pace of completion improving even in states like Bihar and Assam significantly, the target of 1 crore completed homes under PMAY-G by March 2019 will be achievable.
The scheme has focused on deprived households and the poorest of the poor who live in kutcha houses. It is for this reason that sanction of remaining 4.75 lakh homes in the case of landless has to wait till the land is provided by state governments. “There are cases in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Bihar awaiting sanction. Allotment of land to the landless has been prioritized through State Governments to ensure that those most in need of a rural home get it on a priority”, added the statement.