The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development has accused the government of failing to identify “genuine beneficiaries” for its flagship rural housing scheme, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), since the scheme still relies on 14-year-old data from Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) of 2011 to find beneficiaries.
In its report tabled on Wednesday, the panel headed by Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka also criticised the government for not increasing the financial aid given under the scheme, which aims to provide “housing for all”.
The Centre provides assistance of ₹1.20 lakh per unit in the plains and ₹1.30 lakh per unit in northeastern States, the hill states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, and the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Though the government last year extended the scheme by five years, the assistance has not been increased.
In view of the rise in “construction costs” and “inflationary pressures”, the Committee recommended that the per-unit cost of houses under PMAY-G be increased to ₹4 lakh to ensure that beneficiaries receive quality housing that meets the minimum standards of safety and durability.
‘Gap in beneficiary identification’
The panel pointed out that the eligibility criteria for PMAY-G were determined based on housing deprivation parameters from the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC), 2011. “However, considerable time has passed since the base year, and it has been widely observed that many eligible beneficiaries have become ineligible while a whole lot of eligible beneficiaries have surfaced and are waiting to avail the benefits,” the panel said in its report.
This gap in beneficiary identification is a serious deficiency in the scheme’s implementation and requires urgent rectification, the panel said. The Committee has urged the Department of Rural Development to undertake a comprehensive review of the existing list of eligible beneficiaries at the earliest to ensure that newly emerging needy households, who were not covered under the SECC 2011 Census, are duly included in the PMAY-G scheme.
The Committee also recommended that the eligibility criteria be expanded to include households with semi-permanent structures, such as those with pucca walls or tin roofs, to better reflect the current housing realities and ensure comprehensive coverage under PMAY-G.
The government, though, in its submission, informed the panel that to include additional eligible households, the government conducted Awaas+ survey in 2018. And an additional survey is underway and is expected to be concluded by March 2025. As of February this year, 80,32,731 households have been surveyed by States/UTs.
‘Extension includes backlog too’
The panel further pointed out that the extension of the scheme, as advertised by the government, in reality largely only handles the backlog of the original programme. As of October 22, 2024, a total of 2.66 crore houses have been completed, while 29 lakh houses remain pending.
A backlog of 1,46,54,267 houses still exist, including 62,54,267 from the SECC-2011 list and approximately 84 lakh from the Awaas+ list. Two crore houses approved under the extended phase already account for this backlog of 1.46 crore houses, meaning that, in reality, only 53.45 lakh new houses have been allocated under this phase.
“The Committee strongly recommends that the total number of houses planned under the extended phase of PMAY-G be increased to at least 3.46 crore, accounting for the backlog of 1.46 crore houses and an additional 2 crore houses to ensure fresh allocations beyond the existing backlog,” the panel said.
PMAY-G came into effect on April 1, 2016. The scheme aims to provide a pucca house with basic amenities to all houseless households and households living in kutcha/dilapidated houses in the rural areas of the country. Initially, a target was set to provide 2.95 crore pucca houses with essential amenities to eligible houseless households. The Union Cabinet granted an extension to the scheme on August 9, 2024 to construct additional two crore rural houses from FY 2024-25 to FY 2028-29, over and above the previous target of 2.95 crore.
The total financial outlay for this initiative is ₹3,06,137 crore, allocated for the period from FY 2024-25 to FY 2028-29.
Published – March 13, 2025 08:30 pm IST