State governments in the region are on their toes to meet the new deadline of March 2024 for providing houses for the rural poor under thePradhan Mantri AwaasYojana-Gramin(PMAY-G).
According to the written reply tabled in theLok Sabha by Union minister of state for rural development, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, while about 85% of the 2.49 crore houses sanctioned by various states and Union territories under PMAY-G scheme have been completed nationally, 50% to 80% of the sanctioned houses remain incomplete in the northeast. The Union ministry of rural development is implementing PMAY-G with effect from April 1, 2016 to provide assistance to construct pucca houses in the country with basic amenities.
While the initial timeline for PMAY-G was 2022, the deadline has now been extended to March 2024. Under PMAY-G, the minimum size of a house is 25 square meter, including a dedicated area for hygienic cooking.
Except for Tripura, which has achieved noticeable progress by completing 79.77% of 2.49 lakh houses sanctioned under the scheme, about half of the task remains incomplete for Meghalaya and Manipur, which achieved 52.68% and 50.66% of the total target as on December 7. In Meghalaya and Manipur, 65,155 and 36,454 houses have been sanctioned.
The hill states of Nagaland andArunachal Pradeshare at the bottom of the tally in NE as they have completed the construction of only 23.42% and 27.28% of the 22,351 and 35,987 sanctioned houses respectively. Mizoram has completed the construction of 33.56% (6,167) of the 18,373 sanctioned houses.