Bhubaneswar: About 48,490 houses allotted to rural people under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) in 2013-14 and 2015-16 financial years have not been completed even though the Centre has replaced the housing scheme with Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G).
The state government is facing problems in including these beneficiaries under PMAY-G as they have already received funds under IAY in one or two instalments. The incomplete houses under IAY have become a stumbling block in the government’s effort to provide concrete houses to all the poor by 2019, sources said.
It is learnt that 8,322 houses, allotted to people under IAY in 2013-14 fiscal, are yet to be completed. The figure stands at 15,163 for 2014-15 financial year and 25,005 for 2015-16 fiscal.
The Centre, meanwhile, has replaced the IAY with the PMAY-G and also raised the unit cost of the housing project.
The IAY beneficiaries of districts coming under the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) were entitled to get Rs 75,000 each for construction of houses while their non-IAP district counterparts were receiving Rs 70,000 each.
Now the beneficiaries of PMAY-G of IAP districts are getting Rs 1.3 lakh each for building houses while non-IAP districts are receiving Rs 1.2 lakh each under the scheme.
This apart, all the beneficiaries of PMAY-G are also entitled to at least 90 days of remunerations (around Rs 15,000) under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and additional fund of Rs 12,000 each for the construction of toilets.
Moreover, the government is providing financial benefits to PMAY-G beneficiaries for speedy construction of houses.
Beneficiaries who complete the construction of houses within four months are entitled to get Rs 20,000 each as financial incentives while beneficiaries who complete houses within six months will get Rs 10,000 each.
“The IAY beneficiaries cannot complete the construction with the old unit cost. At the same time the government is also facing problems in including them under PMAY-G,” said an official of the Panchayati Raj department.
According to the official, the Panchayati Raj department has asked IAY beneficiaries to refund the money and enlist themselves under PMAY-G. However, the initiative has failed to achieve the desired results due to non-cooperation from IAY beneficiaries.
“The BDOs concerned have been directed to initiate certificate cases against IAY beneficiaries,” said the official.
