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The Centre has relaxed the “automatic exclusion” criteria under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), allowing families owning “two-wheelers, motorised fishing boats, refrigerators, landline phones” and earning “up to Rs 15,000 per month” to now avail the rural housing scheme.
The parameters were among the criteria that render households ineligible under the scheme. The parameters that will continue to result in “automatic exclusion” are: (Owning) motorised three/four-wheelers; mechanised three/ four-wheeler agricultural equipment; Kisan Credit Card with credit limit of Rs 50,000 or above; Household with any member as a Government employee; Household with non-agricultural enterprises registered with Government; Any member of family paying income tax; Paying professional tax; Land ownership ceiling of 2.5 acres or more of irrigated land.
The revision in the PMAY-G standards of ineligibility was announced by Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in a video conference with the Rural Development Ministers of the states Tuesday. He also said that land related criteria under the scheme have also been rationalised.
Under PMAY-G, all households living in houses with pucca roof and/or pucca wall, and households in houses with more than two rooms were already filtered out. The exclusion criteria revision is significant in view of the Centre’s aim to construct two crore additional houses under the rural housing scheme by 2028-29. On August 9, the Union Cabinet approved a proposal of this effect.
These two crore houses will be over and above the target of 2.95 crore rural houses set under the ‘Housing for All’ programme, of which 2.65 crore houses have already been completed so far.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set release an instalment of Rs 2,745 crore to PMAY-G beneficiaries on September 15 in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. He will also distribute acceptance letters to all the targeted beneficiaries in the financial year 2024-25.
Under the PMAY-G, each beneficiary gets up to Rs 1.2 lakh in the plains and Rs 1.30 lakh in hilly states, difficult areas, and tribal and backward districts under the Integrated Action Plan (IAP). The Centre and states share expenses in the 60:40 ratio in case of plain areas, and 90:10 for Northeastern states, two Himalayan states and the UT of J&K. The Centre bears 100% cost in case of other UTs including Ladakh.
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