Although more than a couple of hundred applicants turned up to claim financial aid for a home of their own, the loan camp organised on Thursday by Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) under Pradhan-Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) was a sorry affair, exclaimed the civic body guardians and bank representatives in attendance.
RMC convened a loan camp at its offices on Thursday under PMAY for eligible urban poor – Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and low Income Group (lIG) – who will be eligible for subsidised loans between Rs3 lakh and Rs6 lakh according to Credit linked Subsidy Scheme vertical of the urban housing scheme.
Out of the 250 applicants, many of the aspiring beneficiaries requested loans against the tribal lands they own, which cannot be accepted by banks as mortgage due to legal restrictions associated with these plots.
“The most frequent objection on part of bank representatives was applicants coming for loans and offering tribal land as mortgage. We wish to cover as many beneficiaries as possible under PMAY but this issue is shortening the list of beneficiaries,” stated Assistant Executive Officer Ram Krishna Kumar.
The land plots under Chotanagpur Tenancy Act or Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act cannot be sold, which puts banks in a tight spot if a beneficiary fails to repay the loan.
“Most of the land owned by the populace that needs PMAY in Ranchi is tribal land. Considering this, the camp will end on a positive note even if a fraction of the applicants here are selected for the housing scheme,” said one RMC official.
Out of the 250 applications filed at the loan camp, only 66 were deemed worthy of approval, with all the required paperwork attached with them. Many applicants came here just to enquire about the scheme and left with the forms.
“We have cases like an undergraduate student is applying for housing loan under PMAY against a land registered in the name of his deceased grandfather and will be repaid by his aunt. People are aware about the requirements of applying for this scheme,” said lDM Harish Kakkad accompanied by representatives from several banks.
On receiving the applications, RMC will forward them to banks preferred by the applicants. After considering these submissions, the banks will choose the eligible candidates, based on their incomes, and will contact them later. The loans will have to be repaid on subsidised interest rates
“We will be holding such loan camps for the next 10 to 12 days. Those who could not apply for the scheme today can come back with all the required documents then,” said Kumar.
Although, he could not find a way around the tribal land hurdle the urban local body faces in this scheme.