PM releases Rs 2,691 crore for PMAY-G beneficiaries, slams previous govts for their policies

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday lashed out at previous governments, saying the poor had to the bear the brunt of their “wrong” policies and intentions. He also said that the poor people never believed in the past that the government will help them get a roof above their heads.

“Their (previous governments) policies were wrong and the poor had to bear the brunt of their wrong intentions,” he said while releasing financial assistance of Rs 2,691 crore to 6.1 lakh beneficiaries in Uttar Pradesh under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. In his 30-minute speech through video conferencing, the prime minister said people of Uttar Pradesh have not forgotten those governments in the past.

Modi also praised Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for the all-round development in the state and speedy implementation of central schemes, saying it has given it a “new identity”.

The prime minister earlier pressed the remote button to release the assistance and interacted with some beneficiaries. Union Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Adityanath were present on the occasion. The assistance includes release of first installment to 5.30 lakh beneficiaries and second installment to 80,000 beneficiaries who have already availed of the first installment of assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G).

Modi had given a call of Housing for All by 2022, for which a flagship programme of PMAY-G was launched on November 20, 2016. So far 1.26 crore houses have already been built across the country under the scheme, an official release said.

Under PMAY-G, each beneficiary is given 100 per cent grant of Rs 1.20 lakh (in plains) and Rs 1.30 lakh (in hill states/NE region/difficult areas/JK & Ladakh besides Naxal-hit districts besides areas falling under the Integrated Action Plan IAP).

The beneficiaries of PMAY-G are also provided support of unskilled labour wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and assistance of Rs 12,000 for construction of toilets through the Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin (SBM-G), MGNREGS or any other dedicated source of funding.

The scheme has provisions for convergence with other central or state government schemes for providing LPG connection under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Scheme, electricity connection and access to safe drinking water under the Jal Jeevan Mission.

(With the inputs of PTI).