Only 50% Houses delivered to beneficiaries in last four years under PMAY-U

By: Yash Gupte

Food, Clothing and Shelter are the basic necessities for a human being to survive. Having a basic and Pucca house is a pre-requisite for any individual for his/her overall development. In order to fulfill this desire of the common man of having a Pucca house in an urban area, the Government of India launched Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana- Urban (PMAY-U) in 2015.

Food, Clothing and Shelter are the basic necessities for a human being to survive. Having a basic and Pucca house is a pre-requisite for any individual for his/her overall development. In order to fulfill this desire of the common man of having a Pucca house in an urban area, the Government of India launched Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana- Urban (PMAY-U) in 2015. PMAY-U is the flagship mission of the Government of India being implemented by the Ministry of Housing and urban Affairs (MoHUA). The Mission addresses urban housing shortage among the Economic weaker sections/ Lower income categories and Middle income categories including the slum dwellers by ensuring a Pucca house to all eligible urban households by the year 2022, when India completes 75 years of its Independence.  All houses under PMAY-U have basic amenities like toilet, water supply, electricity and kitchen. The scheme promotes women empowerment by providing the ownership of houses in the name of female members or in joint name.

 Though the idea of providing Pucca houses to the urban poor looks eye-catching, reports and data show a different reality as reports suggest that the PMAY-U has a completion rate of just 50% which is far less than the completion rate of PMAY-Gramin (PMAY-G) which stands at 67%. The MoHUA has been providing central assistance to the states and UTs since 2015 for providing all weather Pucca houses to all the eligible urban beneficiaries. In a written reply to a question in Loksabha on 4^th August 2022 on the completion of houses under PMAY-U, the MOS for housing and urban affairs kaushal kishore revealed that out of the sanctioned 122.69 lakh houses, 102.23 lakh have been grounded for construction out of which only 61.50 lakh are delivered to the beneficiaries.

The chart given below compares the central assistance released to the states and utilized by states in construction of houses under PMAY-U from 2018-19 to 2021-22.

Source: Press Information Bureau

The chart shows that the central assistance provided to the states has been highly utilized by the states but the case is not as it seems as the states have not utilized the funds provided by the centre in that particular financial year but over the years. The reality reflects that there has been under-utilization of funds by the states in the construction of houses and this has been one of the major reasons in less construction of houses against the sanctioned strength. Only Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have completion rate above national average and on the other hand, Bihar has the lowest completion rate. As on 1^st August 2022, 2.01 lakh crore rupees were sanctioned for the scheme but data shows that only 1.20 lakh crore rupees were actually released. Apart from financial issues, lack of clear titles and incomplete documentation has led to incompletion of the targets under the scheme. The scheme is a great opportunity for boosting the spirit of federalism between the centre and the states as the centre is responsible for bearing 60% of the cost and the remaining 40% cost of the houses is bore by the states.