Government plans to sanction 75 lakh houses before March 2019 under PMAY-U

New Delhi:  75 lakh houses will get approved under PMAY (Urban) till March 2019. “Construction of around 30 lakh houses is expected to be completed by March next year,” a senior government official said.

In 2017-18, the ministry had approved around 26.7 lakh houses, while the target for 2018-19 is around 30.6 lakh houses. Until, since the start of the programme, the government has sanctioned construction of a total of 53.7 lakh houses, and close to 30 lakh dwelling units have already been grounded and are in various stages of execution. More than 8 lakh houses have already been constructed. “Construction takes time…While houses under the beneficiary-led construction take around 18 months to complete, others take around 30-36 months to complete,” the official said.

While efforts to provide low-cost housing loans have been made for many years (National Housing Policy, 1994; Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, 2005; Rajiv Awas Yojana 2013), the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) launched in 2015 provides a fresh impetus. By 2022 Government aims at ‘Housing for All’ to be achieved under PMAY-Urban. The total housing shortage expected to be addressed through the PMAY-U is around 1 crore.

“The government has released Rs 1,424.59 crore under the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme of the (PMAY-U) in the current year while Rs 2,481.56 crore was released under the CLSS in the previous financial year”, official said.

According to the MoHUA, the Centre has passed an assistance of Rs 78,008.36 crore under the (PMAY-U) during the last three years and of this amount, Rs 27,653.18 crore has been approved and released. Around Rs, 9,565 crore has so far been used under the mission in the last three years since the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban).

The panel noted that the housing and urban affairs ministry is giving the “usual excuse of procedural delays” in accounting for spent funds in case of the prestigious flagship programmes, but the reality is that “enough thought” has not gone into the promises made to people.

The ministry told the committee that the Centre approves the states’ plans and provides assistance to states, UTs, and cities, whose projects are designed, approved and executed by them. Release of funds and utilisation is part of the normal financial procedures to ensure proper accounting, and it is not a “true barometer” of the physical progress and the speed of implementation of mission targets and objectives.