Explained: What is PMAY-U? Who can avail it?

How many houses have been built?

As per information available on the PMAY-U, 1.21 crore houses have been sanctioned under the scheme till May 9 2022, of which 58.82 lakh houses have been completed/delivered. A maximum number of 28.17 lakh houses have been built under the BLC vertical. The remaining 30.65 lakh houses have been built under the other three verticals—ISSR, CLSS and AHP.

How much money has been spent on the PMAY-U?

The Centre has committed Rs 2.01 lakh crore for the PMAY-U, of which Rs 1.18 lakh crore has been released and Rs 1.10 lakh crore has been spent.

What is the Beneficiary-led individual house construction/enhancements (BLC)?

Under the BLC vertical, a beneficiary receives a financial assistance of Rs 2.5 lakh from the government to build his or her house. The PMAY-U guidelines define a beneficiary family as a family comprising of “husband, wife and unmarried [sons and/ or unmarried daughters.]”

“The beneficiary family should not own a pucca house (an all-weather dwelling unit) either in his/her name or in the name of any member of his/her family in any part of India,” state the scheme guidelines.

Under the scheme guidelines, an adult earning member (irrespective of marital status) can be treated as a separate household. However, to avail the scheme, he or she should not own a pucca house (an all-weather dwelling unit) in his /her name in any part of India.

Under the PMAY-G, a beneficiary can avail the BLC component for the enhancement of his or her existing house. However, only persons with a pucca house having a built-up area of less than 21 sq.m are eligible to avail this facility.

What is geotagging and is it mandatory under the PMAY-U?

Geotagging is a process of adding geographical identification to various media like photography. Under the PMAY-U guidelines, it is mandatory for the state government to ensure that all houses built under the scheme are geotagged to the Bhuvan HFA (housing for all) application, which has been developed by the government for the monitoring of the scheme.

What is Bhuvan HFA?

Bhuvan is an Indian Geo Platform developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). It is a web-based application which allows users to access various map related services. The application also provides facility of geotagging of images of houses built or being constructed under the PMAY-U.

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