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Rural Development Minister calls State’s decision an unprecedented situation
Madhya Pradesh has surrendered more than a quarter of its allotted Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Grameen) houses for this financial year, giving up 2.32 lakh out of a total 8.32 lakh houses.
This is the first time any State has done so, according to officials from the Union Rural Development Ministry, which administers the scheme.
The housing scheme aims to ensure that every rural Indian family has a pucca house with basic amenities by 2022, and expects to build a total of 2.95 crore houses by then. The nationwide target for this financial year 2019-20 is 60 lakh houses.
“The State targets were determined in February 2019 and Madhya Pradesh was allotted a total of 8.32 lakh houses under the Annual Action Plan approved by the Empowered Committee. However, on July 31, we got a letter from the MP government that they wished to surrender 2.32 lakh houses this year,” a senior Rural Development Ministry official, who did not wish to be named, told The Hindu . “The State indicated that it was not in a position to construct [the original target] this year.”
“This is an unprecedented situation and it is not good for the State to reduce its target. At the end of the day, it delays housing for lakhs of its people,” said another senior Ministry official, who also did not wish to be identified. “It seems that the Congress government’s farm loan waiver scheme may be reducing the State’s ability to meet its share for other schemes.”
Under PMAY(G), each beneficiary is given a total of Rs. 1.2 lakh to construct a pucca home, with a hygienic kitchen space. (The amount is Rs. 1.3 lakh for hilly States, difficult areas and tribal and backward districts which come under the Integrated Action Plan.) The cost is split in a 60:40 ratio between the State and Central governments in plain areas, and a 90:10 ratio in northeastern and Himalayan States. Thus, the State governments must bear a share of the cost of the flagship Central scheme.
In the last three financial years, Madhya Pradesh has been second only to West Bengal in the number of houses constructed under PMAY(G), completing more than 13 lakh houses since 2016, according to government data.
Soon after the Union Budget was presented in July, M.P. Finance Minister Tarun Bhanot had complained that the State’s share of tax revenue had been slashed by Rs. 2,700 crore, calling it a “huge loss” and a “betrayal” of the people of the State by the NDA government.
When the State’s Congress government presented its own maiden budget, it increased its budgetary allocation for farmers by 145% over the previous year to Rs. 22,736 crore. In keeping with poll promises to implement a farm loan waiver scheme, the State’s Finance Minister said the loans of 20 lakh farmers had been waived, to the tune of Rs. 7,000 crore, over two months. Asn additional Rs. 8,000 crore was set aside for the remaining farmers, he said.
The Congress government has been slow to come on board with some other flagship schemes of the Central BJP-led government. Only 9,304 of MP’s approximately 80 lakh farmers had received the first instalment of the PM-KISAN scheme’s annual income support of Rs. 6000, the Rajya Sabha was informed in June.
