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As many as 2,658 beneficiaries will soon get the possession of the houses constructed by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) under the Centre’s ambitious initiative Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the project by symbolically handing over the keys of some flats to eligible beneficiaries of the housing scheme on Tuesday.
Having completed the construction of affordable houses for the poor under the Union government’s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is now planning to identify land in Baner and Hadapsar to further the project.
Municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar said, “The PMC undertook the implementation of the project five years ago and has finally completed construction of houses for the economically weaker section under PMAY. A total of 2,658 houses have been constructed under the scheme and the beneficiaries will soon be handed over the keys of their houses. It will begin with Prime Minister Narendra Modi handing keys to a few beneficiaries on August 1.”
Under the PMAY, the PMC constructed 1,108 apartments in Vadgaon Khurd, 786 in Kharadi and 764 dwelling units at three locations in Hadapsar. “The PMC is happy to implement the flagship project of the Prime Minister in Pune. Now, we are identifying land in Baner and Hadapsar to construct more houses and provide affordable shelter to the poor,” said Kumar.
“The completion of the project…is a big achievement for PMC. We will continue to implement the project in other parts of city as per availability of land. The PMC has proposed the second phase of the project at Vadgaon Khurd and has sought financial support from the government,” said city engineer Prashant Waghmare.
The size of apartments constructed under the scheme is between 300 sqft to 330 sq feet with a hall, kitchen, bedroom, toilet, bathroom and a balcony. The PMC has made provisions for lifts in the buildings; power backup and solar heater have been installed on the rooftop with water connection to each apartment. The PMC is planning to provide CNG connection to every apartment. Each of the housing complexes have a sewage treatment plant, open space for children and senior citizens with the entire ground floor allotted for parking of vehicles. The prize of each apartment is in the range of Rs 10 lakh to 12 lakh.
The PMC has spent Rs 277 crore for the project. The civic administration received around one lakh applications but it found only 30,000 applicants eligible for affordable housing. The PMC shortlisted the beneficiaries twice through a lottery system.
Initially, the PMC struggled to get land for the project and it decided to implement the scheme in the land reserved for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Housing for Dishoused (HDH).
The implementation of the project was rough as beneficiaries expressed their inability to pay due to loss of employment during the lockdowns effected on account of the Covid-19 pandemic. The credit record of the beneficiaries also got affected as most of them are daily wage workers or in less-paying jobs The banks were not keen on lending loans to beneficiaries and the PMC had to intervene on behalf of the beneficiaries.
