Union Cabinet clears PMAY (Urban) till Dec 2024

• The Union Cabinet recently approved the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs proposal to extend the government's flagship housing for all scheme - Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U), until December 31, 2024.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY):

• Housing for All is one of the major flagship programmes of Government of India launched on 25th June
• It is being implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
• It will ensure all weather pucca houses to all eligible beneficiaries in the urban areas of the country through States or UTs or Central Nodal Agencies by the year 2022.

Features

Four verticals of the scheme

Target beneficiaries

• Beneficiaries include Economically weaker section (EWS), low-income groups (LIGs) and Middle-Income Groups (MIGs).
• The annual income cap is up to Rs 3 lakh for EWS, Rs 3-6 lakh for LIG and Rs 6 + -18 lakhs for MIG.
• It will be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) except for the component of credit linked subsidy scheme (CLSS) which will be implemented as a Central Sector Scheme.
• Central sector schemes are 100% funded by the Union government and implemented by the Central Government machinery.
• CSS are extended by the Union Government to States under Article 282 of the Constitution. The mainly cover items listed in states list.

Some initiatives under PMAY-U

• Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs): A sub-scheme under PMAY-U, it aims to provide ease of living to urban migrants or poor by giving access to dignified affordable rental housing close to their workplace.
• Global Housing Technology Challenge - India (GHTC-India): It aims to identify and mainstream innovative construction technologies from across the globe for the housing construction sector that are sustainable, eco-friendly and disaster-resilient.
• CLSS Awas Portal (CLAP): The portal facilitates processing of applications along with tracking of subsidy status by beneficiaries.
• ANGIKAAR: It is a campaign for social change management initiated by ‘Housing for All’ Mission in 2019. It has achieved the objective to build capacities of PMAY-U beneficiaries in adapting to change through door-to-door awareness on best practices.

Significance and achievements so far

• PMAY-U addresses urban housing shortage among the Economic Weaker Section (EWS) or Lower Income Group (LIG) and Middle-Income Group (MIG) categories including the slum dwellers.
• PMAY-U has so far sanctioned 122.69 lakh houses with a total investment of 8.31 lakh crore, of which over 61 lakh houses have been completed and delivered to beneficiaries.
• Construction work under PMAY-U has consumed 423 lakh MT Cement and 96 lakh MT Steel, while creating 239 lakh jobs.