New Delhi: The government on Monday said a total of 2.88 lakh additional houses have been sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–Urban 2.0 (PMAY-U 2.0).
With the latest approval of 2,87,618 houses, the total number of sanctioned houses under the PMAY-U 2.0 scheme is now over 13.61 lakh, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
Among the 2.88 lakh sanctioned houses, more than 1.60 lakh have been allotted to women, including widows, separated or unmarried females.
Eight dwelling units are sanctioned for Transgenders. Further, 22,581 houses have been allotted to senior citizens. While 35,525 houses have been sanctioned for SC beneficiaries, 9,773 are for ST beneficiaries, and 82,190 are for OBC beneficiaries.
This reflects the government’s continued commitment to ensuring access to dignified and affordable housing for urban families belonging to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Low Income Group (LIG), and Middle-Income Group (MIG), as was conveyed at the sixth meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) here.
According to the ministry, the newly-sanctioned houses have been approved in 16 States/UTs — Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
These have been sanctioned under different verticals of PMAY-U 2.0, such as Beneficiary Led Construction (BLC) – 1.66 lakh houses, Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP) – 1.09 lakh houses, and Affordable Rental Housing (ARH) – 12,846 houses.
Of the 13.61 lakh sanctioned houses under PMAY-U 2.0, 96 per cent are in the name of the female head of the household or in joint ownership in the BLC and ISS verticals, reflecting the scheme’s focus on empowering women.
Srinivas Katikithala, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, emphasised the need to prioritise housing projects near mass transit corridors.
He added that the AHP houses should be within the city for ease of living. He also mentioned that the success of some affordable housing projects should be showcased as best practices for cross-learning among States/UTs.
The ministry said it has been promoting rental housing as a separate vertical through ARH to cater to the affordable rental housing needs of urban migrants, homeless people, industrial workers, working women, construction workers, and other vulnerable groups.
About 12,846 houses have been sanctioned under ARH, it informed.
(IANS)
