What is PM Awas Yojana and Why Has It Become a Political Flashpoint in Bengal & Odisha? EXPLAINED

The BJP has threatened a mass agitation against a list of PM Awas Yojana (PMAY) beneficiaries made public by the Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha, which it says has left out 1.5 lakh poor people.

The state government has made the provisional list of beneficiaries public on Monday. The state?s Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water department displayed the provisional list of 9.5 lakh beneficiaries under the scheme at all the gram panchayat offices, schools, anganwadi centres and other public places in villages.

The list will remain displayed from January 16 to January 24 for public scrutiny, the department secretary S K Lohani said.

In West Bengal, a row against the scheme has stirred up with the state government writing to the Centre demanding the immediate release of funds under the PMAY, underlining that the state will fail to meet its March 31 deadline for building 11 lakh houses, if there is any further delay, a senior official told PTI.

News18 explains what the scheme is, and why the rows have stirred up:

What is the PM Awas Yojana?

The Indian government launched the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in 2015 with the goal of providing affordable housing to all citizens by 2022.

The government hoped to provide its beneficiaries with an interest subsidy when they took out loans to buy or build a house through this credit linked subsidy scheme (CLSS), a report by the Indian Brand Equity Foundation explains.

The scheme was created to assist the middle-income community, economically disadvantaged groups (EWS), and low-income groups (LIG). The scheme is divided into two sections based on the areas it serves: Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G) or Rural.

PMAY-U, which was launched in 2016, aimed to provide ?Housing for All by 2022? by constructing 1.12 crore houses for the country?s urban poor over the next seven years (between 2015 and 2022). The scheme was extended till 2024.

PMAY-G was launched in November 2016 with the goal of supporting ?Housing for All by 2022? by constructing 2.95 crore houses for rural poor across the country by 2022.

Beneficiaries

It is available to people who live in both urban and rural areas and meet certain criteria.

SCs/STs, freed bonded labourers and non-SC/ST categories, widows or next-of-kin of defence personnel killed in action, ex-servicemen and retired paramilitary forces members, disabled people, and minorities.

Beneficiaries are chosen based on the following criteria: Through a three-stage validation process that included the Socio Economic Caste Census 2011, Gram Sabha, and geo-tagging.

Cost Splitting

The cost of unit assistance is split 60:40 between the central and state governments in plain areas and 90:10 in North Eastern and hilly states.

So, What Happened in Bengal?

The deadline to complete the construction of 11 lakh houses under the PMAY scheme in West Bengal will not be met unless the pending Central dues on this count are cleared, the state government had communicated to the Union ministry of rural development on Tuesday.

The state government has communicated this to the Union government in a reply to a recent 493-page query by the latter seeking clarifications about the utilization of funds under the PMAY scheme in the state.

In the letter, the Union ministry also made it clear that in absence of proper clarification on this count further Central funds under this scheme will not be released.

In its reply, IANS cited sources from the state panchayat affairs and rural development department as saying that the state government has clarified that it has already provided the Union government with necessary explanations on fund utilization under the scheme.

In the reply it has also been communicated to the Union government that the state government has kept its share of expenditure of Rs 4,800 crore under the scheme and is already to spend the same on this count as soon as the state gets the Central share Rs 13,000 crore on this count.

Two field inspection teams from the Union Ministry of Rural Development have already conducted an enquiry on this count in East Midnapore and Malda districts.

Another five field inspection teams from the same Ministry are scheduled to visit the state and review the situation in 10 districts.

And in Odisha on Tuesday, a delegation of BJP MLAs met Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal and urged him to facilitate a special ?Gram Sabha? session, where people, whose names have been allegedly deleted from a housing scheme beneficiary list, will get to air their grievances to the state government.

The state?s panchayati raj and drinking water department had on Monday released a provisional list of 9.5 lakh beneficiaries who would be allocated a house under the Centre?s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) scheme.

The delegation, led by BJP chief whip Mohan Majhi, claimed that 1.5 lakh names, which had figured in the waiting list prepared in 2018-19, were found missing in the provisional list.

Alleging that the state government took political leanings into consideration while preparing the list, Majhi said, ?The BJP stands by the people who were denied justice by the state government. We have urged the governor to call on government officials concerned for addressing grievances of these 1.5 lakh people. Justice should be done.? The senior BJP leader also said that saffon party would not hesitate to gherao the chief minister?s residence if the state government did not accommodate these people and drop the ineligible ones.

The ruling BJD, however, rejected the allegation of the BJP and said people can submit fresh applications through proper channels. No ineligible person will be given benefits, said BJD MLA Dhruba Sahoo.

PMAY for Long a Flashpoint in Bengal

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May this year, stating that the Central government is not releasing funds to Bengal for PMAY and MGNREGA.

The CM had urged PM Modi?s immediate intervention and direction to the concerned Ministry to release the funds ?without any further delay?.

However, the BJP has been alleging rampant graft and misuse of funds under PMAY since 2020. It was also claimed that the ruling party renamed PMAY as Bangla Awas Yojana for political purposes, a report by India Today explains.

Adhikari wrote to Modi in August, alleging that the West Bengal government was misappropriating Central funds for the implementation of schemes such as housing and rural job creation.

Following numerous requests, the Centre halted the funds in March of this year. However, after much political manoeuvring, the union rural development ministry reportedly sanctioned â113,000 crore in November for the construction of 11.34 lakh homes for the poor under the PMAY project in Bengal.

Officers from Delhi visited the TMC-ruled state in July to assess how the PMAY is being implemented. Many signboards with Bangla Awas Yojana were apparently changed to PMAY.

With inputs from IANS, PTI

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