Govt to build 51 lakh new houses by March 31, 2018
By TIOL News Service
NEW DELHI, NOV 29, 2017: PRIME Minister launched Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) on November 20, 2016 from Agra. A target of completing one crore new houses by 31st March, 2019 was set. Of these, 51 lakh houses are to be completed by 31 st March, 2018.
To meet the challenge of assisting 51 lakh Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Gramin) beneficiaries in construction of their homes by March, 2018, the Ministry of Rural Development, in partnership with the State Governments, has taken many steps, including setting month-wise target for completion of houses. The target for completion of 10 lakh houses by November, 2017 has been achieved on 29 th November, 2017, i.e. before the appointed date for completion of 10 lakh houses. It is expected that 15 lakh houses will be completed by 31 st December 2017; 25 lakh houses by 31 st January, 2018; 35 lakh houses by 28 th February, 2018 and 51 lakh houses by 31 st March, 2018.
Towards meeting the target of construction of 51 lakh houses by March, 2018, while 56.90 lakh beneficiaries have been sanctioned houses, 51.39 lakh beneficiaries have received 1 st instalment, 31.03 lakh beneficiaries have nearly reached roof-cast levels and for 16.05 lakh beneficiaries the house construction is nearing completion. States like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, who have highest number of PMAY-G beneficiaries, are on course for completion of PMAY-G houses within the prescribed time-frame.
The faster completion of quality houses has been assisted by payment of assistance directly into the beneficiary account through IT-DBT platform. To ensure good quality of house construction, Rural Mason Trainings have been organized to facilitate availability of trained masons in the rural areas. Space technology and IT platforms are being used to monitor complete cycle of house construction, right from identification of beneficiary to construction stages of houses to completion and each stage is being geo-tagged. States have taken adequate steps to ensure continuous availability of construction material at reasonable prices so that the pace and quality of construction is not adversely affected.