file photo Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan Said on Wednesday that his ministry has allotted about 38 lakh houses under this Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Rural ,PMAY-G) to 18 states this financial year, out of the 20 million new housing units that are proposed to be constructed over the next five years.
The ministry has also released an initial amount of Rs 10,668 crore to start the construction of houses.
Chouhan said his ministry has spent a total of Rs 1.03 lakh crore so far this fiscal year to meet commitments under various schemes, out of the budgeted Rs 1.84 lakh crore.
He was briefing journalists in the capital about the achievements of his ministry.
The Cabinet in August had approved Rs 3.06 lakh crore to build 30 million houses across the country over the next five years, of which 20 million will be built under PMAY-G.
This is in addition to the 29.5 million rural households that the government is targeting to complete under the scheme this financial year since its launch in 2016. He said that against these previous commitments, 26.8 million houses have been built so far.
Chouhan said a fresh survey will be conducted to identify more beneficiaries, as the PMAY-G eligibility criteria have been relaxed. “We are committed to providing a house to every poor person and we will do this with the help of states. No eligible beneficiary will be left out.”
The minister said the number of so-called lakhpati didi– The number of women self-help group members with an annual income of at least Rs 1 lakh has increased from 10 million a few months ago to 11.5 million now. The July budget aimed to triple this number to 30 million.
Lakhpati Didi Yojana is implemented through self-help groups and aims to boost women’s earnings through various official interventions.
Chouhan said that under the latest or fourth phase of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), approval has been given for construction of 6,614 km of rural roads so far this financial year, of which 3,380 km will be built in West Bengal alone.
The government in September had approved a Rs 70,125 crore package for PMGSY-IV, which aimed to build 62,500 km of rural roads and connect 25,000 rural habitations by 2029.
The minister said construction of 9,013 km of rural roads has been approved under the previous phase of the scheme under the Modi 3.0 regime, of which 7,058 km has been completed.
Chouhan said that since the scheme was launched in late 2000, more than 769,284 kilometers of rural roads have been constructed against the sanctioned length of 8,34,457 kilometers.
Chouhan said the government will release funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to West Bengal after the state takes concrete steps to remove the irregularities found during monitoring by the central teams and satisfactorily implements the necessary legal provisions. Will comply with.
He was replying to a question on the suspension of MNREGA over alleged irregularities in West Bengal.
Chouhan also pointed to the substantial sanction of rural roads for West Bengal under PMGSY-IV to refute allegations of discrimination by the Centre.
