Year-End Review: Government Plans to Construct 2 Crore Houses for Rural Underprivileged
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New Delhi, Dec 31 (NationPress) The Central Government has set a target to construct an additional two crore rural houses during the fiscal years 2024-25 to 2028-29 under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) flagship program, which is aimed at ensuring housing for all across the country, as reported in the year-end review by the Ministry of Rural Development published on Tuesday.
As of December 30 this year, the overall target of 3.33 crore houses has been assigned to different states and Union Territories, with 3.22 crore houses sanctioned and 2.68 crore houses completed, according to the official announcement.
On September 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the disbursement of the first installment to over 10 lakh PMAY-G beneficiaries via a single-click operation at a nationwide event.
To enhance verification and combat fraud, the government is utilizing an e-KYC application integrated with Aadhaar, which features AI-powered face recognition technology for validating PMAY-G beneficiaries.
Following the Union Cabinet's approval, the scheme has been expanded to include more individuals, with previous conditions such as owning mechanized two-wheelers, fishing boats, landline phones, and refrigerators removed from the eligibility criteria.
Moreover, the income limit has been raised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per month, and land-related requirements have been simplified to foster greater inclusivity within the scheme.
The PMAY-G has introduced innovative technology solutions to facilitate effective and transparent management of the initiative. The latest phase of PMAY-G features numerous enhancements aimed at maximizing transparency and ensuring integrity throughout the process of identifying and completing housing projects.
Implementation and monitoring of the scheme are conducted using a comprehensive e-governance solution known as AwaasSoft and AwaasApp. AwaasSoft offers functionalities for data entry and tracking various metrics related to the scheme's implementation, ensuring transparency. These metrics encompass physical progress, financial status, and convergence updates.
The Awaas+ 2024 app has been specifically designed for the PMAY-G initiative, featuring tools for assisted surveys conducted by pre-registered surveyors, selection of housing technology, face authentication, Aadhaar-based e-KYC, household data capture, documentation of existing house conditions, and geo-tagged photographs of both the current house and proposed construction sites. This application can operate in both online and offline modes, providing a “Self-Survey” option for eligible households as part of the upcoming PMAY-G phase (2024-29).
