Modi Government’s Rural Housing Scheme Doubles Number Of Houses Built Each Year To Over 38 Lakh

Modi government’s Gramin Awaas Yojana (PMGAY), a reformed version of the Indira Awaas Yojana, has nearly doubled the number of houses completed each year since its overhaul two years ago, a report in The Print has revealed.

Around 38.67 lakh houses were built under the scheme in 2017-18 and 32.22 lakh in 2016-17. In contrast, only 18.22 lakh and 11.91 lakh were built in 2015-16 and 2014-15 respectively. Under Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance government, merely 10.51 lakh were built in 2013-14 and 10.49 lakh in 2012-13.

Under PMGAY, families living in dilapidated houses are entitled to a pucca house with basic amenities. While the scheme is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to provide “housing for all” by 2022, the immediate objective of the scheme is to give houses to 1 crore families living in kutcha houses.

The Indira Aawas Yojna, named after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was reformed by the present government after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India highlighted several shortcomings including lack of transparency in selecting beneficiaries, the report says. Other issues flagged by the CAG include the absence of an effective monitoring process and the quality of houses constructed.

Under the new scheme, which was introduced in 2016, beneficiaries are selected on the basis of socio-economic and caste census data. This data includes detailed parameters of deprivation.