1.04 crore to get PMAY houses, says minister

Patna: Rural development department (RDD) minister Shrawan Kumar on Tuesday informed the state assembly that the construction of pucca houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) for 1.04 crore families identified through a survey is in the pipeline, and implementation will begin once the Centre grants its approval.“The details of the 1.04 crore families for whom the pucca houses would be constructed under the PMAY have been submitted to the Centre. We are waiting for the clearance from the Centre for the implementation,” the RDD minister told the House, adding that 20 lakh families have submitted online applications for houses under PMAY.Kumar was replying to the government’s demand for grants amounting to Rs 23,701.17 crore for the RDD for the 2026-27 financial year, against which a cut motion had been moved by RJD member Rahul Kumar to initiate a debate. Later, amid a walkout by opposition members, the House passed the demand by voice vote.Responding on housing for the rural poor, Kumar said that in 2024–25 the Centre allotted 12.19 lakh pucca houses under PMAY, and construction of houses for 91,000 families left out of PMAY has also been undertaken under the Chief Minister Awas Yojana (CMAY).He further said that the state has launched the Chief Minister Sthal Kray Yojana to provide Rs 1.20 lakh for the purchase of five dismil of land for landless persons, enabling them to construct pucca houses. Additionally, houses are being constructed for 41,000 families who had received houses under the Indira Awas Yojana before 2010 but now require replacement as the structures have become old and dilapidated, Kumar added.He said implementation of schemes under the revised VB-G-RAM-G format of the earlier MGNREGA will commence from April 1, and local schemes will be designed to align with the Centre’s vision of Viksit Bharat. Works under VB-G-RAM-G will be carried out during the non-rainy season to ensure the availability of rural workers for agricultural activities for 60 days during the monsoon.“Biometric and other digital methods would be applied to track the implementation of the work by the workers under the new format,” Kumar said.Kumar also informed the House that the government has so far distributed Rs 18,000 crore among 1.81 crore women at the rate of Rs 10,000 per beneficiary under the Mahila Rojgar Yojana. “Another installment of money, up to a total of Rs 2 lakh, would be given to them after the assessment of their business and economic activities,” he said.He also criticised opposition parties for allegedly spreading rumours about the MRY scheme, noting that the department may initiate its own inquiry into the alleged extraction of money from families during surveys conducted by opposition parties in connection with schemes for women announced by them.