India
PMAY (rural) phase-2 houses must be in women’s names | India News – Times of India
In the second phase of PMAY (nationwide), the government will strictly implement the mandatory clause that the houses be registered in the names of the female members of the beneficiary households.
PMAY (rural) has the option of “female ownership” and “joint ownership” while excluding “male-only” registration of the subsidized houses being built. A senior official said the special focus on women has meant that the scheme has resulted in 74% of sanctioned houses being owned by women alone or jointly. “The program aims to give 100% ownership to women in the second phase,” the senior official said.
PMAY will mark eight years on Wednesday after it was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016 in Agra.
Importantly, the Union Ministry of Rural Development is launching a new survey – Awas-Plus 2024 – to identify beneficiaries for the second phase, with the option of a “self-survey” to address common grievances of households that they being excluded by the surveyors. The option would involve the interested person uploading their image for “face-based authentication” and other credentials in the app.
The research has ten criteria on the basis of which an aspirant qualifies for the scheme. While the government has a list of beneficiaries of 1.2 crore, the survey would identify the remaining 80 lakh persons to complete the target of 2 crore for the second phase of 2024-2029. However, the redundant names that were identified would remain on the list for the future.
The original list of beneficiaries was based on SECC 2011, after which it was updated through an “Awas-Plus 2018” survey.
The RD ministry has directed the states to complete the surveys by November 30 and sanction housing for eligible families by December 31. The government has set a target of one year to complete the construction of houses.
