छोटा सा घर होगा, बादलों की छांव में...
आशा दीवानी, मन में बँसुरी बजाए।
Ghar...
Home is where the heart is.
Everyone, whether the rich and affluent or the poor and underprivileged, feels contentment on reaching home. Each one’s soul has a wish to breathe their last in their own home.
Home is where one relaxes...
Home is where one nurtures themselves and their offspring...
Home is where one aims to fulfilling their dreams...
But, is everyone privileged to have the satisfaction of owning their own house..?
Unfortunately not!!!
Bharat, has been Agro based nation with Agriculture and its Auxiliary as the major economic activities.
In post-independence years, the thrust on Industrialisation, augmented inflow of people from the rural areas towards the urban areas, in search of livelihood opportunities in the industries.
As a result, the urban areas were overflowing with population. Sadly, the entire initiative at an early stage lacked planning the strategy to build sufficient accommodation for such an inflow of people.
As demand for the housing increased manifolds, the scarcity of affordable housing resulted in creation of slums and hutments.
With the collapse of traditional cottage industries and its related means of livelihood, the rural economy suffered a huge setback. With massive fall in economic pursuits around the villages,the rural population could barely afford constructing Pucca houses with the basic amenities. ‘Roti, Kapda aur Makaan’, very basic for survival, had turned into a distant dream.
Years and decades passed and Bharat was turning into the Slum-Jungle.
The infrastructural development that was initiated after the independence became lopsided where the rich lived in tall sky-scrapers but the poor and underprivileged remained in Juggi zopadi.
According to the Times of India (TOI), majority of Bharatiyas have per capita space of 10 feet X 10 feet or less. This space includes toilet,washing and bathing space! The average is 103 sq feet in rural areas and 117 sq feet in the Urban areas per person.
Such space constraint has ignited illegal occupation of land. Moreover, illegal houses like the huts or the shanties give rise to unhygienic living with lack of Sewage and Toilet facilities. Such illegal houses are constructed with inadequate building supplies which have on many occasions, resulted in collapses of buildings.
Illegal housing is a product of Black economic activity, where the individuals either encroach upon property illegally or pay for housing that is illegal. In such cases, there are little or no utility services. In some cases Electricity or Water is accessed illegally.
Imagine a family of eight living in 10/10 sq feet, with roof leaking in rainy season in Kucchha houses. The education and health & hygiene of young ones suffered a great deal.
During heavy poring, the slum dwellers face horrific calamity and flooding has devastated their lives, causing huge damage economically.
Years ago, this was a regular course of life and people residing in slums and makeshift homes, feared for their lives and livelihood.
In 2014, immediately after Narendra Modiji led NDA Government came to power, a determined strategy to change the scenario was put into action.
An ambitious flagship mission of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY-Urban & Gramin) was launched on 25th June 2015, which intended to provide housing for all in Urban areas by 31st a March 2022.
The mission provided Central Assistance to the implementing agencies through the State/Union Territories (UTs) and Central Nodal Agencies (CNA) for providing houses to all eligible families/beneficiaries.
As per the PMAY(Urban), guidelines, the size of the house for the economically weak Section could be upto 30 sq.mt. Carpet area. However the states and the UTs have the flexibility to increase the size of the houses.
The Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojna Gramin (PMAY-G) is targeted at promoting accessibility and affordability of housing for all of rural Bharat, with the exception of Delhi and Chandigarh.
The objective is to provide financial assistance to the homeless and those residing in depleted houses and to assist them in construction of pucca houses.
Under PMAY (G), Beneficiaries living in plains can receive upto Rs.1.2 Lakhs and those in the North Eastern region, hilly areas, integrated action plan (IAP) and difficult red can avail upto Rs. 1.3 Lakhs owing to their housing endeavour.
The cost of housing development is shared between the Central and the State Government in the following ways:
60 : 40 in the plain regions and 90 : 10 for North-Eastern and hilly areas.
At present, Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojna (PMAY-U) has around 4,331 towns and cities under this scheme.
The scheme progresses in three phases.
Phase 1. covers 100 cities in select states and UTs between April 2015 and March 2017.
Phase 2 covers 200 additional cities between April 2017 and March 2019.
Phase 3 covers the remaining cities between April 2019 and March 2022.
As per the data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, as on 1st July 2019, the progress of PMAY-U in the states and UTs :
Sanctioned Houses :83.63 Lakh
Completed Houses : 26.08 Lakh
Occupied Houses : 23.97 Lakh
The following individuals and families are eligible for this scheme :
1. Economically Weaker Section (EWS)- Families with an annual income upto Rs.3 Lakhs.
2. Low Income Group - (LIG) Families with an annual income between Rs.3 Lakh and Rs.6 Lakhs.
3. Middle Income Group - (MIG 1.) Families with an annual income between Rs.6 Lakh and Rs.12 Lakh.
4. Women belonging to EWS and LIG categories.
He/She must not own a house to fulfil the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojna eligibility and the individual must also not avail the benefits of any other housing schemes by the state or central Government.
Beneficiaries for this PMAY scheme have been identified as per the data available from the Socio-Econonic and Caste census (SECC).
The beneficiaries include Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, Non-SC/ST under BPL, Freed bonded labourers, next of kin and widows of Paramilitary forces and individuals killed in action, Ex.Serviceman and those under a retirement scheme.
A beneficiary family comprises of husband, wife, unmarried sons and/or unmarried daughters. An adult earning member (irrespective of marital status) can be treated as a separate household.
In addition, to support the Government‘s efforts towards empowerment of women, PMAY (U) has made a mandatory provision for the female head of the family to be the owner or co-owner of the house under this mission.
To own a pucca as well properly illuminated and well ventilated house along with basic necessities of Toilet and smoke free Kitchen with LPG cylinder has been a cherished dream of everyone.
For decades, this aspiration remained unfulfilled.
But with dedication and compassion, of Hon. Prime Minister’s efforts have resulted in accomplishment of their bottled-up wishes.
Razia, from Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh lived with her family in a hut with plastic canopy as roof. During monsoon and extreme cold, life became hell for them. With no Toilet facility inside their hutment, they and many around them had open defection as only alternative.
One fine day, when officers of Nagar Palika visited their huts and informed them regarding availing the PMAY (G) Scheme, their happiness had no bounds.
Arunomoni of Assam has similar tale to share. Her family with children and grandchildren, had never dreamt of living in a pucca house till the advent of Modi Government at the Center. Now, privileged to be owning a well built home, she feels huge contentment.
For years after independence, the North eastern region- the states called Seven sisters- were practically forgotten. The benefits of reforms hardly reached these states. Thus, the common people of these states remained disconnected with the nation. Since 2014, after the advent of NDA Government at the Center, Hon. Prime Minister’s empathy towards each Bharatiya residing in the remotest corner of the nation, nurtured back the patriotic connect in them. All welfare schemes reached every nook and corner.
PMAY (G) has reached far and wide, from plains of North Bharat to hilly range of Himalayas and North East. To the remotest corner of Lakshadweep to Andaman-Nicobar.
There are four primary components of Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojna.
1) Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS)
It provides subsidies on home loan interest rates to eligibles.
Maximum home loan amount granted to EWS can be upto Rs. 3 Lakhs, with the interest subsidy of 6.50%.
For LIG, the loan amount can be in the vicinity of Rs. 3 to 6 Lakhs, with interest subsidy of 6.50 %.
For MIG (1), the loan amount can be between Rs. 6 to 12 Lakhs with interest subsidy of 4 %.
For MIG (2), the loan amount can be between 12 to 18 Lakhs, with interest subsidy of 3%.
Home loans under the CLSS have maximum tenure of 20 years. NPV or the net present value is evaluated at a discounted rate of 9% of the interest subsidy.
2) “In Situ” slum redevelopment using the land as a resource: The scheme aims to rehabilitate slums with the land as resource, with association with private organisations to provide houses to families residing in such areas.
The prices of the houses are determined by the Central Government and the beneficiary contribution (if any) is decided by the state or UT.
3) Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP) provides financial assistance to the tune of 1.5 Lakhs on behalf of Central Government to EWS families for the purchase of houses. State and UTs can partner with their agencies or private sectors to develop such housing projects.
4) The component of PM Awaas Yojna targets EWS families who are unable to avail the benefits of the previous three components. Such beneficiaries can avail financial assistance from the Central Government of up to 1.5 Lakh that can be used to fund the construction of a house or remodeling of the existing one.
For the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and the Lower Income Groups (LIG), the interest subsidy would be provided on housing loans for acquisition and construction of the house. For the Middle Income Group (MIG), the interest subsidy has been provided on housing loans for acquisition/construction of houses.(including repurchase). The interest subsidy benefit would be upfront on the principal outstanding.
The amount of interest subsidy is subject to income criteria as per various categories of the scheme.
The beneficiaries can either apply Online to the official Website of the scheme for applying to avail the scheme, along with valid Aadhar Card or apply offline by filling up a form at the Common Service Center (CSC).
The credit linked subsidy has been available for home loans availed for new construction and addition of rooms, kitchen, toilet etc. to existing dwelling as incremental housing.
Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojna (PMAY) was launched by the Government of Bharat to boost the affordability of houses against an inflated real estate sector.
Family of OmLaxmi Mishra and ShivSagar Mishra, living in small village of Intoja in Uttar Pradesh, did have a house of their own, built on their own land but the house was a rudimentary structure. With growing family of school going children, the daily life became difficult. During rainy season, the family lived in a fear of house collapse. With PMAY (G) reaching their doorsteps, their lives have changed entirely.
Ravindra’s family residing in Jagjitpur in Odisha has similar experience. Re-constructing their home, at an extremely low rate of interest has evoked feelings of unbound elation.
Hon. Prime Minister is determined to provide a home to every household by 2022, when Bharat completes Seventy five years of its independence...
Can there be a better way of celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of independence of Bharat...?