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govt's ambitious Indiramma housing scheme in rural areas suffered a setback as the Union housing ministry sent a missive to the state, stating that the proposals submitted do not comply with norms, including.
The state govt has submitted a list of housing beneficiaries seeking funds under the
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana
(Rural) scheme. Under the PMAY (Rural), the ministry sanctions 72,000 per housing unit, and the remaining amount has to be borne by the state govt.
In its letter to the state, the Union ministry asked the officials to upload live facial authentication using Aadhaar of each beneficiary on its website, leaving the Telangana govt with a huge task of reaching out to 19.5 lakh beneficiaries in rural areas.
Also, the ministry set July 31 as the deadline for completing the task.
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However, housing department secretary V P Gautham told TOI that the state has already completed the survey following the PMAY norms. "They asked us to enter survey details of beneficiaries on their app with beneficiary face authentication using Aadhaar. The work to do this is already in progress, and we are confident of completing it on time," he said.
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PMAY urban 2.0
The Congress govt is extending 5 lakh financial assistance to the Indiramma housing scheme beneficiaries for the construction of the housing units. Of the 5 lakh, the Centre's share under PMAY urban 2.0 would be 1.5 lakh for each unit in urban areas and 72,000 for each unit in rural areas.
The state govt has undertaken the construction of 4.50 lakh Indiramma houses in the first phase, and permission letters to start the work have already been issued to over 3.50 lakh beneficiaries.
The state govt is expecting over 2,000 crore in central funding under PMAY for the housing scheme. The central govt releases the money every year once the state submits the data.
Housing minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, on multiple occasions, said the Congress govt would implement Indiramma housing at all costs. "Even if central funding is delayed, Indiramma housing works will continue at their original pace, and the govt will help the beneficiaries with the construction of over 20 lakh houses in five years, with 5 lakh financial aid to each," he added.
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