Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) is not merely about bricks and mortar, it is about a better quality of life and fulfilling dreams.
“The Central Government is working to ensure a home for every Indian by 2022. The Awas Yojana is not merely about bricks and mortar. This scheme is about a better quality of life and dreams coming true. We are working towards ensuring that every Indian has a home by 2022, when India marks 75 years of Independence,” said Modi, while talking to beneficiaries via NaMo app. This is the third in the series of video-conferencing interactions by the PM with various beneficiaries of the Government schemes.
Expressing delight at interacting with beneficiaries, he said such interactions help in understanding various aspects of the scheme, including areas that need to be improved.
During the interaction, Modi said the PMAY is linked with the dignity of citizens and the focus of the yojana is to ensure more women, divyang sisters and brothers, SC, ST, OBC, and minority communities get access to housing.
The PM said that in the four-year tenure of the NDA Government, over one crore houses have been constructed. “Earlier, Rs 70-75,000 were given to the people. But now under the PMAY, we have increased the number to Rs 1.30 lakh,” he said.
The Government has so far given sanctions to build more than 47 lakh houses in urban areas, which is 4 times more than the sanctions given by the previous Government in 10 years.
Emphasising on the changes brought by the present Government in the PMAY, the Prime Minister said that the size of houses built have been increased to 25 square metre from 20 square metres.
The Prime Minister said that the current Government is working for “all and not limited people.”
During the UPA Government, beneficiaries were selected through BPl (Below Poverty line) list. We started doing selection through socio-economic-caste census, with the help of which we added those beneficiaries who were left earlier,” the PM said.
“We have been working to free the housing sector from middlemen, corruption and ensuring that the beneficiaries get their own home without hassles,” he added, while stressing upon how with the help of the latest technology, the Government is ensuring faster building of houses for the poor in rural and urban areas at affordable cost.
While talking to the beneficiaries from Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Assam, the Prime Minister also requested them to avoid consuming tobacco and alcohol.