Move to benefit families residing in urban areas for the past nine years; civic bodies directed to allot AHP houses to new beneficiaries within 15 days
Raipur,(thestates.news) |The Chhattisgarh government has extended the cut-off date for establishing residential eligibility under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) 1.0 from August 31, 2015, to August 31, 2024. The decision will bring more families residing in urban areas within the ambit of the scheme and provide thousands of them with a new opportunity to own a permanent home.
The Urban Administration and Development Department has issued an order from the Mantralaya fixing August 31, 2024, as the revised cut-off date.
The department’s Principal Secretary, Shri Sonmani Bora, said the order has been circulated to all municipal corporations, municipal councils and nagar panchayats in the state, with instructions to identify, verify and complete the necessary process within 15 days to extend Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP) houses to newly eligible families. He directed the Chief Executive Officer of the State Urban Development Agency (SUDA), Shri Sumeet Agrawal, to regularly monitor the process, and said no laxity or negligence would be tolerated in the implementation of the scheme. He also appealed to citizens to approach their respective urban bodies with documents establishing their revised eligibility to claim allotment of AHP houses as per rules.
The state government’s decision reinforces Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s resolve of “Housing for All” and advances the priority accorded to welfare of the economically weaker sections under Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Deo Sai’s leadership. The revised cut-off date takes into account the changing needs of urban areas, rising population, and the actual housing requirements of poor and low-income families. Beneficiary selection will be carried out as per the guidelines of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) 1.0 and a transparent process of survey, document verification and eligibility screening.
On progress under the AHP component in the state, the department said 36,969 houses have been sanctioned so far, of which 29,267 have been completed, representing approximately 79 percent of the sanctioned houses. Construction of the remaining 7,702 houses is under way at various stages. So far, 30,438 AHP houses have been allotted to beneficiaries, and 21,923 families have already moved into their houses.
Under one AHP sub-component, aimed at the rehabilitation of homeless urban poor families living in slums, the central government provides a grant of Rs 1.50 lakh per house and the state government Rs 2.50 lakh per house, with the beneficiary’s contribution limited to Rs 75,000 per house, payable in easy instalments. Similarly, for eligible EWS families living in rented accommodation who wish to own a permanent house, the central government provides a grant of Rs 1.50 lakh per house, while the state government provides land free of cost. In this category, the beneficiary’s contribution is Rs 3.25 lakh per house, payable in easy instalments. The state government said it is regularly organising loan fairs through urban bodies to help beneficiaries arrange their contribution.
*Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Deo Sai said extending the cut-off date for beneficiary selection under the scheme to August 31, 2024, would enable more eligible and needy families in urban areas to benefit from pucca housing. “Fulfilling Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s resolve of ‘Housing for All’, our government is committed to providing every poor family with safe, dignified and permanent housing,” he said.*
Deputy Chief Minister and Urban Administration and Development Minister Shri Arun Sao said the state government had fixed the revised cut-off date keeping in view the real needs of the underprivileged urban families. “This will give more eligible families the opportunity to get pucca houses and give fresh momentum to beneficiary selection and planned settlement in AHP projects. Our goal is to ensure that every eligible family has access to dignified housing,” he said.
