Centre sanctions 1.11 crore houses under two schemes of PM Awas Yojana

New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) The Centre has sanctioned 1.11 crore houses under two schemes of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, with 95.54 lakh of those houses having already been completed and handed over to beneficiaries, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Replying to supplementaries during the question hour, the minister said that, according to a 2020 slum survey, as many as 6.5 crore people, comprising 1.39 crore households, were living in slums across the country.

"Under both schemes, the Centre has sanctioned 1.11 crore houses and 1.10 crore have been grounded, of which 95.54 lakh houses have been ready and handed over," the minister told the house.

He said land and colonisation are State subjects and policies and programmes related to slum rehabilitation rest with respective states/Union Territories (UTs). Hence, data related to slum rehabilitation or relocation is not maintained by the ministry, he added.

"However, as regards the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCTD), the slum rehabilitation and/or demolitions are done by various land owning agencies like Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), etc., under the provisions of various applicable Acts.

"As per the information received from DDA, as part of the Slum Rehabilitation/ Relocation programme, DDA has carried out demolition after properly rehabilitating eligible slum dwellers. It involves a total of 5,158 households, out of which a total of 3,414 were found eligible for alternative rehabilitation as per the DUSIB policy," the minister said in his written reply.

The eligible dwellers have been provided with alternative rehabilitation with all modern facilities, he said.

Implementing agencies execute slum rehabilitation projects based on their own land management policies and the slum rehabilitation policy of States/UTs. During the slum rehabilitation and/or resettlement, land owning agencies/implementing agencies and affected families/beneficiaries may also seek assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) and PMAY-U 2.0, if beneficiaries are otherwise eligible, he said.

"Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is supplementing the efforts of States/UTs by providing central assistance under PMAY-U since June 25, 2015, for the construction of houses for eligible families/beneficiaries, including slum dwellers. "Further, based on the learnings from the experiences of implementation of PMAY-U, MoHUA has revamped the scheme and launched PMAY-U 2.0 'Housing for All' Mission with effect from September 1, 2024, to support 1 crore additional eligible beneficiaries in urban areas. PMAY-U 2.0 is implemented through four verticals, i.e., Beneficiary Led Construction (BLC), Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP), Affordable Rental Housing (ARH) and Interest Subsidy Scheme (ISS)," he said.

"Under PMAY-U and PMAY-U 2.0, a total of Rs 2.05 lakh crore has been sanctioned as Central Assistance, of which Rs 1.75 lakh crore has been released to States/UTs and Rs 1.65 lakh crore has been utilised by States/UTs. Although slum dwellers have received benefits under all verticals of PMAY-U, Rs 1,800 crore Central Assistance has been specifically released under In-Situ Slum Redevelopment (ISSR) vertical," the housing minister said. PTI SKC SKC BAL BAL