The Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana is a flagship housing program initiated by the Government of India to provide affordable housing to the rural poor. The scheme seeks to assist houseless household beneficiaries and beneficiaries living in dilapidated houses in constructing pucca (permanent) houses with basic amenities.
Objectives:
- To facilitate a pucca house with basic amenities to all houseless household beneficiaries and those living in kutcha (temporary) and dilapidated houses in rural areas by 2024 (this scheme has been extended now to 2028-29 with the target to construct an additional 2 crore houses).
- Address rural housing shortages and bridge housing deficits.
- Contribute substantively to the Housing for All mission.
Key Features:
- Target Beneficiary: Rural Households belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) and other eligibility criteria based on housing deprivation.
- Financial Assistance:
o ₹ 1,20,000 per unit for plain areas.
o ₹ 1,30,000 per unit for hilly areas, difficult area, and Integrated Action Plan (IAP) district including North-Eastern states such as Assam.
o The financial assistance is provided by central Government which is transferred to the bank account of the beneficiary through Direct Benefit Transfer as an installment in accordance with construction stages. - State Government Contribution: Contribution by state governments are also expected.
- House Size: Minimum size of house built under PMAY-G is 25 sq. meters that includes a designated space for hygienic cooking.
- Convergence with other schemes: PMAY-G houses are match along with a range of amenities – toilets (under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan), LPG connection (under Ujjwala Yojana), electricity connection (under Saubhagya Yojana), and drinking water with convergence with schemes.
- Institutional finance: Interested beneficiaries may obtain institutional finance (loan) of up to ₹ 70,000 with below Market Rate of 3% to build permanent house.
- MGNREGA Wage: Beneficiaries are entitled to MGNREGA wages for unskilled labour (under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) for the construction of their houses, over and above the unit assistance.
Eligibility for PMAYG
The following categories of people are eligible to obtain the benefits of this scheme.
- All landless or homeless families.
- All families who have either one or two-roomed non-permanent (kaccha) housing. Also, a house’s walls and roofs must not be made of concrete.
- Any household which does not have a literate male member above 25 years of age.
- Any family which does not have a member between ages 15 and 59 years of age.
- Any family which has a disabled member is also eligible to avail of benefits under Pradhan Mantri Awas Gramin Yojana.
- Those who do not have a permanent job and only engage in casual labor.
- People from the minorities section as well as Scheduled Tribes and Castes are also included in this scheme.
