Guwahati, Jan. 19: Over 1.6 lakh pucca houses have been proposed to be built for the poor during 2016-17 under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) for Assam launched by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today.
PMAY(G) will provide an environmentally safe and secure pucca house to every rural household by 2022 in the state, Sonowal said ceremonially distributing sanction letters to beneficiaries in a programme here.
The Yojana proposed “Housing for All” in rural areas of the state with a target to complete 1,64,245 pucca houses in its first phase during 2016-17, Sonowal said.
The unit cost for these houses has been increased to Rs 1.3 lakh and further through convergence of Swacch Bharat Mission (SBM) and MGNREGA, a minimum support of nearly Rs 1.6 lakh to a household is available under the scheme, he said.
Similarly, minimum size of a house has been increased from the 20 sqm under Indira Awaj Yojana to 25 sqm including a dedicated area for hygienic cooking.
The Chief Minister termed the initiative as a major step forward in bringing qualitative change in the lifestyle of the downtrodden people of Assam.
“India will emerge as a strong nation if the poor are strengthened”, Sonowal said.
Stating his Government has set a target to build around 10 lakh pucca houses in the state by 2022, he said all out effort has been made to stop all anomalies in selection of beneficiaries and construction of houses in the State.
Sonowal further added that a strong monitoring mechanism for implementation of the scheme has been developed in the State.
“The selection of beneficiaries has been made through a completely transparent process using the Socio Economic Census 2011 data and validating it through the Gram Sabha.
To ensure complete transparency and accountability, the entire payments are through Direct Benefit Transfer mode”, Sonowal said. .
