The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is an initiative undertaken by the Government of India under the ‘Housing for all’ mission to provide financial assistance to construct houses for the poor and needy. The scheme was also established to boost the real estate sector and encourage home construction.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is the Government of India’s housing scheme. It is a step towards the development of affordable housing in India. The goal of PMAY is to ensure that all households have access to pucca houses with water connections, toilet facilities, electricity connections, and a 24 X 7 power supply by 2022.
The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) is an urban poverty alleviation scheme by the Government of India. It is the world’s largest residential housing scheme in the world with a target to construct over 2 crores (20 million) affordable homes for the urban poor, by 2022.
The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana provides credit-linked subsidy schemes to the economically weaker sections of society, the middle and the lower-income groups of India.
The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana can be divided into two sections-
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Urban: Initiated the construction of houses in urban areas.
Prashan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin: Initiated construction of houses in rural areas.
Features of PMAY
The following are the features of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)
● Credit linked subsidy scheme- The policy beneficiaries received an interest subsidy on loan provided for home construction. Thus, the beneficiaries were relieved of the burden to repay the principal amount and high-interest rate. The credit-linked scheme also helped in faster sanction of housing loans with more significant repayment periods.
● Affordable housing partnerships- The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana also has provisions for affordable housing partnerships. Under this scheme, the AHP provided financial assistance up to 1.5 lakhs on behalf of the Government to those willing to construct their own house.
● Extra concession for women- The PMAY provides additional subsidies for women beneficiaries. Such an initiative allowed several women to construct their own homes and ensured that they did not suffer any financial burden. Thus, women beneficiaries paid subsidized interest rates on the principal amount.
● Slum redevelopment facilities- the PMAY also helps in the redevelopment of slums or relocation of slum dwellers. It ensures that the slum dwellers live in areas with proper drinking water and sanitation facilities.
Eligibility criteria
The following groups will be eligible for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana
● Families with an annual income up to 3 lakh (Economically Weaker Sections of Society)
● Families having an annual income between 3-6 lakhs (Lower-income group)
● Families with an annual income between 6 lakhs to 12 lakhs (Middle-income group tier 1)
● Women belonging to the lower-income group or economically weaker sections of society
● Scheduled Castes/ scheduled tribes, and Other Backward Classes.
How to apply for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana
One can apply for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana housing scheme online or offline. The beneficiaries need to fill up the online application form available on the PMAY website to apply online. Beneficiaries need to provide their Adhar Card details to make a successful application.
If a person wants to apply offline, he can collect the PMAY form from the Common Service Centre. The forms cost Rs 25.
Conclusion
The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana has been one of the most significant contributions of the Indian Government towards the growth of the real estate sector. The scheme also helped every stratum of society to build their dream houses with adequate financial assistance. The subsidized interest rates and various other features of the project further helped the needy.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is a new housing scheme launched by the government of India to provide pucca houses to all by 2022.
The existing gap between demand and supply gap for housing in India has been estimated at around 20 million units. This gap is caused due to a number of factors, including limited availability of credit for housing, high transaction costs of a formal property transaction system, and limited availability of government subsidies for affordable housing.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Prime Minister Housing Scheme) is social welfare scheme of India’s government launched on June 25, 2015. The scheme is a part of Prime minister Narendra Modi’s agenda to build 2 crore houses in India with an estimated budget of Rs.1 lakh crore for the year 2015-16.
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