New Delhi, June 18 (IANS) Another almost 2.35 lakh houses have been approved for construction under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban 2.0 during the third meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee held on Wednesday, an official statement said.

The total number of houses approved at the meeting is 2,34,864 across nine states – Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. This has taken the total number of houses sanctioned so far under PMAY-U 2.0 past the 7 lakh mark, according to the statement issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

PMAY-U 2.0 is being implemented through four verticals – Beneficiary Led Construction (BLC), Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP), Affordable Rental Housing, and Interest Subsidy Scheme.

The houses approved by the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee, headed by Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Srinivas Katikithala, come under the Beneficiary Led Construction and Affordable Housing in Partnership verticals of the scheme.

During the meeting, Katikithala directed the larger states to prepare an affordable housing policy and bring the proposals under the AHP vertical of PMAY-U 2.0. He added that states and UTs may study the affordable housing policy of Maharashtra and adapt it according to their local requirements. States and UTs were also advised to identify and attach beneficiaries under the AHP vertical at the initial phase of approval to avoid unoccupancy issues at a later stage.

Among the houses approved on Wednesday under PMAY-U 2.0, more than 1.25 lakh houses have been sanctioned for women alone, including single women and widows, ensuring the empowerment of women. Meanwhile, 44 houses have been allotted to transgenders.

The scheme also promotes inclusiveness and social equity among different underprivileged groups with 42,400 houses allotted in the name of SC beneficiaries, 17,574 houses for ST beneficiaries and 1,13,414 for the OBC.

The states and UTs were also advised to complete verification and attachment of beneficiaries of applications received on the unified web portal of PMAY-U 2.0 and give priority to beneficiaries from the special focus groups.

Under PMAY-U 2.0, 1 crore families will be provided financial assistance to construct or purchase a pucca house in urban areas. The scheme focuses on the uplift of poor and middle-class families by giving them secure houses to focus on the betterment of their lives. Individuals and families, who do not own a pucca house anywhere in the country, are eligible to purchase or construct a house under PMAY-U 2.0. Central assistance of up to Rs 2.50 lakh per housing unit is provided.

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U), launched in June 2015, was revamped and launched as PMAY-U 2.0. Under PMAY-U, more than 93.19 lakh houses have already been constructed and delivered to beneficiaries. With the launch of PMAY-U 2.0, an additional 1 crore EWS/LIG/MIG families of urban India will be provided pucca houses.

Eligible individuals can apply for the scheme directly through https://pmay-urban.gov.in/ or contact their ULB for assistance. For the AHP and BLC verticals, households with an annual income up to Rs 3 lakh will be eligible to avail the benefit of the Scheme, for the ISS vertical, households with an income up to Rs 9 lakh will be eligible. All eligible beneficiaries (including family members) should have an Aadhaar/Aadhaar Virtual ID integrated.

–IANS

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