Cash-strapped States Stall PMAY Funding

The government’s flagship rural housing programme is suffered a serious financial setback as cash-strapped state governments have refused of at least nine states have not released their requisite share to the tune of Rs. 2,915.21 cr for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin), which aims to replace all makeshift houses with permanent ones in rural India. As of June 30, about Rs. 2,492.61 crore or 85% of the states’ share has been held back by the Opposition-ruled states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. Rajasthan has not released Rs. 1,498.41 crore, Chhattisgarh Rs. 762.81 crore and Jharkhand Rs. 231.39 crore for 2019-20. Besides the opposition-ruled states, MP, Gujarat, Haryana, Tripura, UP and Manipur have also not contributed their share of funds. Against a target of 6.15 million houses, only 755,000 have been sanctioned this financial year and just 559 completed. The target is to build 24.7 m houses by March 2022.