Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana | 12 Jun 2024

Source: IE

Why in News?

Recently, the Prime Minister approved aid for building three crore houses under PMAY, with two crore under PMAY-Gramin and one crore under PMAY-Urban.

• The government announced that additional housing units will be built beyond those planned under PMAY-G and PMAY-U by December 2024, extending the original target from March 2022.

What is Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana?

• Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana- Gramin (PMAY-G): 
  • Launch: To achieve the objective of “Housing for All” by 2022, the erstwhile rural housing scheme Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) was restructured to Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) from 1st April 2016, as a centrally sponsored scheme.
  • Ministry Involved: Ministry of Rural Development. 
  • Status: States/UTs have sanctioned 2.85 crore houses to the beneficiaries and 2.22 crore houses have been completed till March 2023.
  • Aim: To provide a pucca house with basic amenities to all rural families, who are homeless or living in kutcha or dilapidated houses by the end of March 2022. 
    • To help rural people Below the Poverty Line (BPL) in the construction of dwelling units and upgradation of existing unserviceable kutcha houses by assisting in the form of a full grant. 
  • Beneficiaries: People belonging to SCs/STs, freed bonded labourers and non-SC/ST categories, widows or next-of-kin of defence personnel killed in action, ex-servicemen and retired members of the paramilitary forces, disabled persons and minorities. 
  • Selection of Beneficiaries: Through a three-stage validation such as Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011, Gram Sabha, and geo-tagging. 
  • Cost Sharing: The Centre and states share expenses in 60:40 ratio in case of plain areas, and in 90:10 ratio for northeastern states, two Himalayan states and the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. 
    • The Centre bears 100% cost in case of other Union Territories, including the UT of Ladakh.
• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U): 
  • Launch: Launched on 25^th June 2015 it intends to provide housing for all in urban areas by the year 2022. 
  • Implemented by: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs 
  • Status: As per the PMAY (U) dashboard, 118.64 lakh houses have been sanctioned out of which 83.67 lakh have been completed.

  • Features: 

    • Addresses Urban housing shortage among the Urban Poor including the Slum Dwellers by ensuring a pucca house for eligible urban poor. 
    • The Mission covers the entire urban area consisting of Statutory Towns, Notified Planning Areas, Development Authorities, Special Area Development Authorities, Industrial Development Authorities or any such authority under State legislation which is entrusted with the functions of urban planning & regulations. 
    • The Mission promotes women's empowerment by providing the ownership of houses in the name of female members or in a joint name. 
  • Scheme Implemented in Four Verticals: 
    • In-situ Rehabilitation of existing slum dwellers using land as a resource through private participation. 
    • Credit Linked Subsidy: People from Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Low Income Group (LIG), and Middle Income Groups (MIG-I and MIG-II) can get interest subsidies of 6.5%, 4%, and 3% on housing loans up to Rs. 6 lakh, Rs. 9 lakh, and Rs. 12 lakh respectively for buying or building houses.
    • Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP): Under AHP, Central Assistance of Rs. 1.5 Lakh per EWS house is provided by the Government of India.

    • Beneficiary-led Individual House Construction/Enhancement: Central Assistance upto Rs. 1.5 lakh per EWS house is provided to eligible families belonging to EWS categories for individual house construction/ enhancement.

What are the Challenges to Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana?

• Delay in Implementation: The government initially set a deadline of constructing 29.5 million housing units under PMAY-G and 12 million under PMAY-U programmes by March 2022. 
  • However, the government missed this target and in August 2022 extended the deadline to ensure “housing for all” to December 2024.
• Improper Execution: Some states delay their contributions which drastically affects progress. In 2020, nine states had delayed the payment of 2,915.21 crores to the beneficiaries. 
• Access to Finance: The disbursed amount of 1.2/1.3 lakh subsidy is not enough to build a house in rural areas therefore households need more funds from financial institutions to cover the shortfall.
• Quality of Housing: The CAG report found poor quality housing in PMAY-G due to lack of supervision, with beneficiaries unaware of construction standards and no mechanism ensuring the effectiveness of provided prototypes.
• Convergence: The PMAY scheme aims to coordinate with other government initiatives like Swachh Bharat Mission, MGNREGA, Jal Jeevan Mission, and Ujjwala Yojana for providing basic amenities during house construction, but reports highlight shortcomings in scheme coordination, such as incomplete toilets in Rajasthan leading to false claims of 'Open Defecation Free' status.
• Lack of Awareness: Many rural residents are unaware of PMAY or lack the needed documents, with illiteracy, poor awareness campaigns, and complex documentation hindering access to housing subsidies and loans.

What are the Steps Needed to strengthen PMAY?

• Timely Release of Funds: Some states face delays in receiving central government funds, with a reported deficit of 200 crores in 2020, prompting the need for timely release of state contributions and direct benefit transfers akin to MGNREGA.
• Formal Credit Facility: Progress of credit disbursal is slow as major banks like SBI don't have Economically weaker Section (EWS)-specific products due to high risk and low profits, needing government intervention for stable financing for 'Housing for All'.
• More Inclusive: The need of the hour is to acknowledge the limitations of the existing scheme and to devise an intervention solely intended to solve the housing problem of the landless rural population.
• Quality Assurance: It is recommended that the government strengthen the quality monitoring mechanisms. Measures like social audits can be considered.
• Awas Bandhu: Awas Bandhu (PMAY-G Local Motivators) are effectively speeding up progress in places like West Bengal and Odisha. With proper training, they can be an important instrument to enhance convergence possibilities.