SRINAGAR: The Union Government has said that beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are eligible for unit assistance of Rs 1.30 lakh, with the Centre and UT administration sharing the cost in a 90:10 ratio.
The information was provided by Minister of State for Rural Development Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The Ministry clarified that PMAY-G provides unit assistance of Rs 1.20 lakh in plain areas and Rs 1.30 lakh in the North-Eastern Region, the hill States of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Responding to a question on financial constraints faced by local self-governments in implementing the rural housing scheme, the Ministry said it had not received any representation regarding a ceiling on the utilisation of local development funds for housing schemes.
It said that, as PMAY-G is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, its implementation at the ground level rests with the respective State Governments and UT administrations. The Centre releases financial assistance directly to States and UTs, treating each as a single unit.
The State or UT governments have the authority to provide additional top-up funds to the PMAY-G budget and distribute funds to districts, blocks and Gram Panchayats. They can also decide any ceiling on fund utilisation by these local units, the Ministry said.
The Centre has approved the continuation of PMAY-G for the financial years 2024-25 to 2028-29 for the construction of two crore additional rural houses under the existing unit assistance structure.
Apart from housing assistance, PMAY-G beneficiaries are eligible for Rs 12,000 assistance for toilet construction through convergence with the Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin. They are also entitled to prescribed person-days of unskilled wage employment under MGNREGS/VB-G RAM G for house construction, within the approved scheme parameters.
The scheme also facilitates convergence for piped drinking water, electricity and LPG connections through the Jal Jeevan Mission, relevant power schemes and the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, respectively.
