Dreams come true as poor get houses under PMAY in 'Naya J-K'

In the financial year 2022-23, Jammu and Kashmir administration embarked on a mission to construct 54000 houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G), housing for all scheme, and the mission is nearing completion.

The administration, during the past three years, has put in extraordinary efforts to help poor people acquire decent accommodation by providing financial assistance to them under PMAY Gramin and Urban.

The main objective of the PMAY-G is to replace the kaccha houses in villages with concrete ones. In December 2021, the Union Cabinet approved the extension of the PMAY-G scheme till March 2024.

Nearly 70 per cent of J-K's population lives in rural areas. After the scrapping of Article 370, a temporary provision in the Constitution, on August 5, 2019, the government has focused on the development of rural areas. It has provided all the requisite support to build infrastructure in the villages across the Union Territory.

The government has reached out to thousands of homeless people by facilitating their endeavours to build their own homes.

Besides rural areas, the government has worked towards the implementation of PMAY-U in the urban areas of the Union Territory.

In 2022, Jammu and Kashmir won top awards in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban at the three-day "India Urban Housing Conclave 2022" (IUHC 2022) organized by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, in Gujarat.

J&K won two awards, including 'Overall best performing Union Territory and best performing UT for the implementation of Affordable Rental Housing Complexes.

In the conclave, J&K highlighted its achievements and the practices adopted by it in the implementation of the scheme.

The PMAY-U is a flagship mission of the Union government being implemented by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), which addresses urban housing shortage among the EWS/LIG and MIG categories, including the slum dwellers by ensuring a pucca house to all eligible urban households.

According to officials, J&K has achieved 100 per cent saturation in the implementation of the PMAY Mission.

About 44,701 beneficiaries were identified and approved under the BLC component (the fourth component of the PMAY-U to provide assistance to individual eligible families belonging to EWS categories). As many as 44630 dwelling units were grounded and many have been completed within the prescribed time schedule.

The J&K administration is providing interest-free loans/subsidies for an amount of Rs 2 lakh per beneficiary for the construction of dwelling units under the BLC component.

Now, the administration has decided to help the landless people. It has prepared a Land Allotment Policy for the poor people for the construction of houses under PMAY as there was no provision hitherto to allot land to the people and houses were being constructed only for those beneficiaries who had land on their names.

In order to help the landless people, a proposal has been finalised to allot land to the people for building houses under the PMAY.

According to a Jammu-based daily, the administration is ready with the laws to allot the state land in urban as well as rural areas.

The laws are likely to be approved by the Administrative Council headed by the J&K Lieutenant Governor shortly after which the Land Allotment Policy will come into force, the daily reported.

According to the officials during the financial year 2023-24, J&K has been allotted 40,000 new houses for houseless families under PMAY-G and 18934 dwelling units are to be completed under PMAY-U.

The state land, which was retrieved from the encroachers during the demolition drive carried out in the Union Territory, is likely to be allotted to the poor people.

Some people, who deserved houses under PMAY, didn't own land. Therefore, houses couldn't be constructed for them. But the new laws would make them eligible for the PMAY benefits.

Allotting land to the landless people would bring J&K at par with the other states and Union Territories where such laws are already prevalent.

Pertinently, till 2019 implementation of PMAY in Jammu and Kashmir went on at a tardy pace as the former rulers didn't exhibit will to help the poor people.

In March 2018, the then J&K Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister attended a meeting convened in New Delhi by the Union Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Mines, Narendra Singh Tomar to discuss the implementation of PMAY in Jammu and Kashmir.

The J&K minister had assured full support to implement housing for all schemes but on the ground, nothing much was done to implement PMAY aimed at helping the poor.

However, during the past three years, the J&K administration has worked hard to fulfil PM Modi's dream to see a roof over the head of every J&K resident.

Thousands of houses built under the PMAY have provided a reason for a common man to rejoice as no government during the past 70 years had done this.

The bold decision taken by the PM Modi-led regime to integrate J&K with the Union of India paved the way for direct implementation of the centrally sponsored schemes in the Union Territory. Till Article 370 was in vogue, schemes like PMAY used to get stuck in one or another wrangle as the so-called special status of J&K acted as a big stumbling block.

On one hand, New Delhi has been putting massive efforts to rebuild Jammu and Kashmir while on the other Pakistan is busy playing dirty games to make the lives of J&K denizens miserable.

From 1990 to 2019, Pakistan-sponsored terrorism wreaked havoc in the Himalayan region. The terrorists sponsored by it soaked J&K with blood and made every attempt to make people poor by not allowing them to carry on with their activities peacefully.

The failure of Kashmir-based rulers to implement the centrally sponsored schemes in Jammu and Kashmir provided Pakistan with an opportunity to preach secessionism and sedition and helped its cause in the Himalayan region.

After the abrogation of Article 370, a common man in J&K realized that Pakistan and the terrorists sponsored by it were his biggest enemies while New Delhi has always tried to help them.

The successful implementation of PMAY in the Union Territory has brought a common man close to a system as he has understood that the government cares and is always there for him. (ANI)