Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday, June 12, 2026, highlighted that nearly 74 per cent of homes sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) are owned by women, framing the statistic as a measure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment to female empowerment under the #12YearsOfNariShakti campaign.

Context

Sarma's post states: 'Under PMAY-Gramin, nearly 74% of homes are owned by Bharat's Nari Shakti.' He adds that 'property ownership strengthens financial security, social standing and long-term empowerment,' crediting Prime Minister Modi for taking 'all steps to empower the women of India.' The post is part of a coordinated BJP campaign marking 12 years of Nari Shakti initiatives under the central government.

The #12YearsOfNariShakti hashtag signals a broader party-wide communication drive timed to mark over a decade of welfare and empowerment programmes attributed to the Modi government since 2014.

Policy Backdrop

PMAY-Gramin is the rural housing arm of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, launched nationwide in 2015 with the goal of providing pucca (permanent) homes to eligible poor households. The Ministry of Rural Development, which implements the scheme, built a gender-priority framework into PMAY-G guidelines from 2016 onward, mandating preference for women-headed households and encouraging joint property registration — known as joint pattas — to promote female asset ownership.

The policy rationale is that placing a home in a woman's name confers legal standing, improves her credit profile, and provides a degree of financial independence. This design principle was carried forward across parallel central schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana, all of which register primary entitlements in women's names.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries are rural women and women-headed households across India, particularly in economically weaker sections. For many of these families, a government-built home is the single largest asset they will ever own, making the gender of the title-holder a consequential economic and social variable.

As NEDA convenor, Sarma's amplification of this data point also carries a regional dimension, signalling the Northeast's alignment with the central government's welfare narrative. Assam, like other northeastern states, has seen significant PMAY-G allocations, and the Chief Minister's post implicitly underscores delivery on the ground in his home state and region.

What's Next

Attention will turn to the Ministry of Rural Development's next gender-disaggregated completion report, which will either corroborate or contextualise the 74 per cent ownership figure cited by Sarma. Any Assam-specific update on joint patta legislation or state-level housing targets is also expected to follow as part of the broader Nari Shakti communication cycle.

If the central government formalises the 74 per cent figure in an official release, it would set a measurable benchmark for women's property ownership in rural India — one that future housing policy and welfare audits will be held against.