Centre Budgets for 2Cr More Houses for Poor | Cong Built 3Cr Homes in 30 Yrs, BJP Built that Many in 3: Rural Devpt Minister

As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the interim budget on Thursday that two crore more houses will be built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) over the next five years, Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh highlighted how ‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas’ is not just a slogan under the PM Narendra Modi-led government.

“Two crore more houses will be taken up in the next five years under the PM Awas Yojana (Gramin) to meet the requirement arising from increase in the number of families,” Sitharaman said in her budget speech. She added that despite the challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, implementation of PMAY-G continued and that the government is close to achieving the target of three crore houses. The FM announced the extension of the scheme before the country goes to polls, which are likely to be scheduled in April-May this year.

Singh told News18: “‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas’ is not just a slogan for the PM Modi-led government. It means actual benefits reach people. It is an inclusive budget, which has both welfare schemes on the one hand and expenditure on the other.”

He said that previously under the Indira Awas Yojana during the Congress rule, three crore houses were built in 30 years, while the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has delivered nearly three crore houses to the rural population within three years.

News18 had on January 5 reported that the Centre was likely to extend the next phase of PMAY-G — its flagship rural housing scheme — beyond March 2024 for the next five-year period and that the announcement may come before the LS polls.

HOW THE SCHEME WORKS ON GROUND

The scheme, executed under the union Ministry for Rural Development (MoRD), provides assistance in building pucca houses and basic amenities to eligible beneficiaries in rural areas. It was last extended by the union cabinet beyond March 2021 to March 31, 2024, to complete the target of constructing 2.95 crore houses.

As stated by the MoRD in Parliament in December last year, against the target of 2.95 crore houses, more than 2.94 crore houses have been sanctioned to the beneficiaries by various states and union territories, while 2.51 crore houses have been completed as on December 7, 2023.

The Centre had in December asked ministries and other implementing agencies on all the welfare schemes that were nearing deadline by the end of the 2023-24 financial year.

PMAY-G came into effect from April 1, 2016, to provide assistance to eligible rural households with an overall target to construct 2.95 crore pucca houses.

During an election year, the incumbent government cannot come out with a full budget and hence the interim budget presented covers the government’s expenses and revenues for a short period. The next full budget will be presented in July once the new government is in place post the general elections.