Open Awaas+ portal to include eligible families from Odisha: Pradhan to Union Rural Development Minister

Bhubaneswar: Union Education and Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday urged Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Giriraj Singh to allow Odisha to migrate the data of eligible beneficiaries from Rural Housing Portal to PWL of Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) by opening the Awaas+ window to include eligible families in a transparent manner.

In a letter to Singh, Pradhan claimed that the data transfer will open the door to a life of dignity for the poorest of the poor in dire need of housing in Odisha. In addition, there is also a need for rigorous monitoring of the entire process so that no eligible beneficiary is left out, Pradhan said in his letter.

“The Centre had launched PMAY-G in November 2016 to ensure pucca houses for the economically weaker sections of the society. The initial target was to construct 2.95 crore houses across the country. The Centre has extended the scheme till 2024 with additional budget grant of Rs 1.25 lakh crore. The target has also been revised to include additional 93 lakh families in the scheme,” Pradhan said.

Till date, as many as 1.9 crore houses have been built across the country under the scheme. In Odisha, around 27 lakh families have been included under PMAY-G, Pradhan said in his letter.

“The Odisha government has failed miserably in terms of completion of survey for identification of eligible families, geo-tagging of households, inclusion of eligible families, exclusion of ineligible beneficiaries and linking of Aadhar and Job Card details of eligible families. Despite this, the state government is claiming that around 7 lakh families have been excluded from the scheme,” Pradhan added.

The Union Education Minister further claimed that investigations by the Ministry of Rural Development have revealed several irregularities in the implementation of PMAY-G in Odisha, including exclusion of eligible people from the waiting list, duplicate entries in AwaasSoft, tampering of PMAY-G logo on many houses and issues related to transfer of funds to the beneficiaries and disproportionate allocation of houses among the districts.

“Families affected by cyclones and floods in the coastal districts of Odisha are still waiting for their inclusion under the housing scheme. Similarly, many families in the southern and western Odisha are yet to get houses under PMAY-G due to delay in geo-tagging and other technical issues,” Pradhan apprised Singh in his letter.

The state government has claimed that the details of 6.65 lakh beneficiaries, including 5.09 lakh from the south-western districts have been captured through the Odisha Rural Housing portal, Pradhan revealed in his letter.

“There is a need for rigorous checking to eliminate chances of duplication of beneficiaries between the PMAY-G and state housing scheme,” Pradhan told Singh in his letter.