CAG report: Improper implementation of housing schemes in Karnataka

BENGALURU: Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), who identified shortcomings in the implementation of housing programmes in Karnataka, stated in its report that the Housing Department has only completed 88,395 dwelling units (DUs), against the target of 5.17 lakh for the urban poor as of March 2021, or only 17 percent.

It further stated that as of March 2021, only 5,17,531 of the 13,71,592 potential beneficiaries, which is only 38 percent, identified through demand survey had chosen to participate in Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP) and Beneficiary Led Individual House Construction (BLC) projects. Additionally, it stated that 3,28,499 DUs’ construction had yet to start as of March 2021, indicating that it would be challenging to achieve the mission objective of ‘Housing for All’ by 2022.The CAG report on ‘Housing Schemes for Urban Poor in Karnataka’ was presented in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday. 

According to the report, the urban local bodies did not conduct the survey to determine the demand for housing in accordance with the guidelines. As only 13.72 lakh prospective beneficiaries were identified as homeless, as opposed to the 20.35 lakh envisaged under the Karnataka Affordable Housing Policy (KAHP), there is possibility that the incorrect survey excluded many eligible beneficiaries. The report went on to note that just 3.43 lakh beneficiaries were identified following proper validation using unique identification such an Aadhar number, out of the 5.17 lakh beneficiaries sanctioned under 2,472 projects. As a result, 206 beneficiaries who were assigned to the BLC vertical, received benefits from the AHP verticals without being validated.

According to the report, inconsistencies in the selection of recipients were highlighted when it was discovered that 41 percent of the homes built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) programme were expensive multi-story structures with carpet areas larger than 30 square metres. The Government of India withheld Rs 1,003.55 crore from AHP projects due to non-compliance with the requirements and due to under-collection of beneficiary contributions and ULB shares totaling Rs 8,360.78 crore. Consequently, there was a deficiency in aggregating financial resources.