The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the implementation of a Rs81,975-crore rural housing scheme to construct one crore homes for the poor within the next three years, even as it sought to bring cheer to 1.08 crore Central Government employees and pensioners on Holi eve by agreeing to hike Dearness Allowance (DA) by 6 per cent.
Under the housing scheme titled Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana — Gramin, which is aimed at housing for all, financial assistance will be provided to those without a house and households living in dilapidated houses for construction of pucca homes. The unit size of the house under this scheme has been enhanced from the existing 20 sqm to up to 25 sqm, including a dedicated area for cooking.
The scheme would be implemented in rural areas throughout India except Delhi and Chandigarh. The Cabinet decided to provide financial assistance of Rs1,20,000 in plain areas and Rs1,30,000 in hilly areas for the construction of the homes under the rural housing project. “The expenditure involved in implementing the project in a span of three years from 2016-17 to 2018-19 is Rs81,975 crore. It is proposed that one crore households would be provided assistance for construction of pucca houses under the project during the period from 2016-17 to 2018-19. The cost of houses would be shared between Centre and States,” said the statement issued by the Cabinet.
The beneficiaries of the rural housing scheme will be selected through the Gram Sabha and funds will be delivered electronically. “Annual list of beneficiaries will be identified from the total list through participatory process by the Gram Sabha. Gram Sabha will need to justify in writing reasons for any alteration of priority in the original list,” said the statement.
The construction of one crore homes in three years is expected to generate large employment opportunities across the country.
For its part, the combined impact on the exchequer on account of both DA and Dearness Relief would be of Rs6,796.50 crore per annum and Rs7,929.24 crore respectively, in 2016-17 (for a period of 14 months from January, 2016 to February, 2017), Prasad said. In September last year, DA was increased to 119 per cent from 113 per cent with effect from July 1, 2015. The latest increase takes it 125 per cent of the basic pay. There are 50 lakh Central Government employees and 58 lakh pensioners.
The Cabinet also approved about Rs9,000 crore World Bank support for the Swachchh Bharat Mission (SBM) in rural areas. “The project basically incentivises States on the
basis of their performance in the existing SBM-Gramin. Incentivisation of States was approved by the Cabinet while approving the SBM-Gramin on September 24, 2014,” said Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
The current approval provides for the mechanism of such incentivisation through World Bank credit, he said, adding that under the approved project, the performance of the states will be gauged through certain performance indicators, called the Disbursement-linked Indicators (DlIs).
The States will pass on a substantial portion of more than 95 per cent of the Performance Incentive Grant Funds received from the MOWS, to the appropriate implementing levels of districts, Blocks, GPs etc, he said. The end-use of the incentive grants will be limited to activities pertaining to the sanitation sector, he added.
This apart, the Cabinet approved transfer of 89.72 hectares of land in Dwarka to DIPP for setting up of a world class state-of-the-art exhibition-cum convention centre. “The Cabinet has given its approval for transfer of land measuring 89.72 hectares in Sector 25, Dwarka, New Delhi, free from all encumbrances, to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion for creation of a World class State-of-the-Art Exhibition-cum Convention Centre in Dwarka, New Delhi,” an official statement said.
The Government also set the ball rolling for hosting the U-17 World Cup next year by authorising the Sports Ministry to constitute an organising committee for smooth conduct of the event, while giving its stamp of approval to the changes suggested by FIFA’s inspection team.
The venues earmarked are JlN Stadium in New Delhi, DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, JlN Stadium in Kochi, Salt lake Stadium in Kolkata, JlN Stadium in Goa and IG Stadium in Guwahati.