Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the major difference between housing schemes conceived for the poor after Independence and in the past six years was transparency and decentralisation of decision making powers in it. At the same time, it strengthened the rural economy and women empowerment and also infused a sense of personal attachment in the beneficiaries with their houses built.

The PM was addressing beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) (Rural) in Madhya Pradesh through a live webcast on the occasion of ‘grih pravesh’ (formal entry) of beneficiaries of 1.75 lakh houses constructed across 12,000 villages of Madhya Pradesh under the scheme.

The PM interacted with three beneficiaries also during the programme- each selected from Dhar, Singrauli and Gwalior districts.

Also read: No carelessness till Covid-19 medicine is developed, urges PM Modi

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union minister for agriculture and farmer welfare Narendra Singh Tomar, Rajya Sabha member Jyotiraditya Scindia and officials of department of rural development and panchayat raj, including additional chief secretary Manoj Shrivastava, also attended the programme.

The prime minister said, “housing schemes for the poor were conceived earlier too even from the first decade of the Independence. There were some additions and names of the schemes kept on changing every 10 to 15 years but the goal of providing houses and dignified life to crores of poor could never be fulfilled.”

He said, “Earlier, there was a lot of interference from the government in it. Those who were supposed to live in these houses were not involved anywhere in the process. Not only this, but there was also a lack of transparency in the schemes earlier and there were irregularities of different kinds. That’s why the quality of such houses was very poor. In addition to this, beneficiaries of the scheme had to take rounds of government offices for basic facilities like water, electricity, et cetera. The result of all this was that the beneficiaries of such housing schemes didn’t shift to the houses willingly”, said the PM.

He added, “when we started working in 2014, the old schemes were improved in the first place based on studies of the experiences in the past. Then, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana was introduced with a completely new thought. In this, transparency is given precedence and a scientific and transparent system is put in place from the selection of beneficiaries to the construction of houses. Earlier, the poor used to run after the government to get benefits from several schemes but now government has to approach people, identify them and give facilities to them”.

The PM said, “The materials available at the local level are given preference. Even the design of the houses is decided as per the need of people and the construction style prevalent at the local level. Every level of construction is monitored with complete transparency”.

He said now a beneficiary was not only getting a house but also other facilities under various schemes like a toilet under Swachh Bharat, LPG connection under Ujjawala Yojna, electricity connection under Saubhagya Yojna, LED bulbs Ujala Yojna, water connection, et cetera., everything with the house.

He said it was interesting to note that the work under the scheme was done effectively even during the Covid-19 period. In all, 18 lakh houses were constructed across the nation during this period under the PMAY scheme. Also, construction of a house under the scheme used to take about 125 days on an average to be completed but during the corona period, a house was built in just 45 to 60 days. This could be possible because of the contribution from migrant labourers who returned home during the Covid-19 period.

The PM said, “Under PM Garib Kalyan Rozgar Yojna, Rs 23,000 crore worth of construction work was executed across the country. While houses were constructed (under PMAY (Rural) scheme) there were works executed at a rapid speed regarding providing water to homes, construction of Anganwadi and panchayat buildings, construction of sheds for cattle, ponds, wells, rural roads and other work associated with rural development. This benefitted in two ways – first, lakhs of migrant labourers who returned home from cities got employment and second, it led to the sale of brick, cement, sand and other building materials. In a way, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Rozgar Yojna proved a big support for strengthening the rural economy. The scheme stemmed strength to a large extent from the work under PMAY”.

The PMAY, he said, not only offered employment to people but also strengthened the women empowerment as a registry of such a house was either done in the name of a woman or her name was joined with another person. There was now an opportunity for women masons to improve their income and feel empowered.

The PM said having put in place infrastructure like electricity, road, toilets et cetera., in five years up to 2019 in the rural areas now the government’s effort was to strengthen the villages with modern facilities. On August 15, the government resolved to lay optical fibre across up to 6 lakh villages in 1,000 days. In about 1,250 villages 15,000 WiFi hotspot and about 19,000 optical fibre connections were provided. Hence, in the coming time, the villages will not only have fast internet facility for students, youth and others, it will be a hotspot for several activities including businesses.