Housing provides stability to poor families, contributes to poverty reduction: Sinha

Jammu, Nov 30: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Wednesday transferred installments to the tune of Rs. 149.17 crore directly to the bank accounts of 35,097 beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin, at the Civil Secretariat.
The Lt Governor said the PMAY-G will fulfill beneficiaries’ dream of a ‘Pucca House’ with basic amenities, boost their self-esteem, social status and standard of living.
Highlighting that the welfare of the poor & vulnerable section is the top priority of UT administration, the Lt Governor said that PMAY-G benefits genuinely homeless, those living in dilapidated houses and a large number of women & households from vulnerable groups. Basic needs assistance will give impetus to rural development and empower the poorest, he added.
Under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, welfare schemes like PMAY-G have transformed people’s lives. Our aim is to build a strong and prosperous rural J&K, said the Lt Governor.
Despite being a slow starter, J&K has gained momentum in realizing the vision of ‘Housing for all’. Our target is to build more than 2 lakh houses. Special camps have been organized to identify the left out deserving beneficiaries of PMAY, the Lt Governor added.
Housing provides stability to poor families and contributes to poverty reduction, and the families who have got their own house are now ready to fulfill other developmental aspirations of their family members, observed the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor maintained that dedicated efforts are being made to fill the gap between policies and implementation. Basic needs like electricity, toilet, drinking water, LPG connection and other facilities for the PMAY-G houses are being met through convergence of other government schemes, he added.
The Lt Governor also highlighted the major role of Rural Development Department and Deputy Commissioners in formulating precise Statistics for effective implementation of welfare schemes.
Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, called for collecting realistic data of left-out eligible beneficiaries of PMAY-G followed by corrective measures to realize the goal of ‘Housing for all’. He further asked the district administrations to make district-wise compendium of houses being provided under the scheme.
Mandeep Kaur, Commissioner/Secretary, Department of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj apprised the Lt Governor about the targets of PMAY and Awaas Plus and the achievements made till date.
It was informed that against the target of 2,00,619 houses, as many as 1,03,577 have been completed. Further, Block level camps were organized in all districts wherein an exhaustive exercise was conducted to update the permanent waiting list of PMAY-G beneficiaries.
To mark the occasion, 20 PMAY-G beneficiaries were handed over cheques of Rs 50,000 each by the Lt Governor.
Indu Kanwal Chib, Mission Director, JKRLM; S. Charandeep Singh, Director Rural Sanitation, J&K; Head of Departments; senior officials and beneficiaries were present at the Civil Secretariat. Various officials and beneficiaries were also connected through virtual mode.