Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna-Gramin (PMAY-G)

In News

• Recently, the Union Ministry of Finance has approved an advance of Rs. 13,000 crore for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna-Gramin (PMAY-G) scheme from the Contingency Fund of India.

Key Points

• Total Outlay: 
  • The Rs 13,000-crore tranche is over and above the outlay of Rs 20,000 crore provided for PMAY-G in the Union Budget 2022-23.
• Top spender in Rural Development
  • In the first seven months (April-October 2022), the MoRD has utilised Rs 16,785 crore – about 84 per cent – of the Rs 20,000 crore under the PMAY-G scheme. 
  • The PM Awas Yojana has been the top spender —better than even the job guarantee scheme, NREGS — in the rural development ministry in the first seven months this year. 
• Demand for Additional Funds: 
  • With several states demanding extra funds for construction of rural houses, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) had approached the Ministry of Finance way back in June for additional allocation. 

Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G)

• Background: Restructured the erstwhile rural housing scheme IAY (Indira Awaas Yojna) and launched the PMAY-G with effect from April 1, 2016
• Launched by: the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD)
• Aim: Providing “Housing for All” by 2022. 
• Features:
  • It is a social welfare program through which the Government provides financial assistance to houseless beneficiaries identified using SECC 2011 data to help them construct a house of respectable quality for their personal living. 
  • Under the PMAY-G, a financial assistance of Rs 1.20 lakh in plain areas and Rs 1.30 lakh in hilly states is provided to a beneficiary. 
  • Provision of assistance for construction of toilets amounting to Rs. 12,000/- through SBM-G, MGNREGS or any other dedicated source of funding.
• Targets: 
  • A target of construction of 2.95 crore PMAY-G houses by March 2024 has been set, of which 2.07 crore rural houses have been built.
  • To meet the March 2024 target, 52.78 lakh houses in 2022-23 and 57.34 lakh houses in financial year 2023-24 must be constructed.
• Funding:
  • The financial burden of implementation of the scheme is shared by the Centre and state in a ratio of 60:40 in plain areas and 90:10 for hilly states (special category states which includes 8 North Eastern States, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and J&K). 
  • In the UTs, including Ladakh, the Centre bears 100 percent of the expenditure on the implementation of the rural housing scheme.

Challenges

• Covid-19 pandemic induced nationwide lockdown has retarded the pace of construction of rural houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin. 
• The delays are also due to cases of the unwillingness of beneficiaries, migration, death of beneficiaries without a legal heir, delay in allotment of land to landless beneficiaries by the states/UTs .
• Implementation was also “affected at the ground level due to unavailability of construction materials, labour, delay in the inspection of stages of house construction etc.

Government’s Initiatives

• Regular review of progress at the level of the Ministry to ensure timely completion of targeted houses.
• Daily monitoring on various parameters like Gaps in sanction of houses, cleaning of Permanent Wait List (PWL) of PMAY-G and release of Central Share/StateMatching Share from the treasury to Single Nodal Account (SNA).
• Timely allocation of targets to the States/UTs and release of adequate funds at the level of the Ministry.
• Regular follow-ups with the State to ensure the provision of land to landless beneficiaries in rural areas.
• Promotion of eco-friendly & innovative technologies for house construction and monitoring 
  • AwaasSoft and AwaasApp
  • E-Ticketing system
  • Aadhaar Based Payment System –ABPS

Source: IE