District administration Ramban has disbursed 39.788 crore among 4753 beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana. Under the scheme 1333 houses have been completed and 7344 are in under progress across the district.
Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (PMAY) is a flagship programme mainly divided into two segments - PMAY Rural and PMAY Urban. Both the segments of PMAY are being implemented effectively in district Ramban.
Deputy Commissioner (DC), Ramban Nazim Zai Khan said that administration is effectively implementing both the PMAY schemes to ensure safe and secure dwelling unit with basic facilities besides increasing quality of life, self esteem and social status of the poor. “Safe and comfortable housing will improve the lives and strengthen the overall socio-economic condition of the weaker sections, besides improving their educational status”, DC added.
Poor, destitute and homeless families anywhere in India are eligible to receive central assistance under the PMAY schemes.
The financial assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna is Rs.1.30 lakh under PMAY (R) and 1.66 Lakh under PMAY (U). The amount is transferred directly to the bank account of the beneficiaries in four installments at different stages of construction work after proper verification and Geo tagging, he added.
Pertinent to mention here that Ramban district is mostly pastoral comprising of 142 Panchyats in 11 CD blocks including Banihal, Batote, Gandhri, Gool, Gundi –Dhram, Khari, Rajgarh, Ramban, Ramsoo, Sangaldan and Ukhral besides 3 Urban Local Bodies including newly upgraded Municipal Council, Ramban and two Municipal Committees (MC), Banihal and Batote.
Under PMAY-(R) scheme RDD has disbursed Rs. 38.93 crore among the 4681 PMAY-(R) beneficiaries of different blocks across the district including 454 in Banihal, 576 in Batote, 265 in Gandhri, 297 in Gool, 78 in Gundi-Dhram, 715 in Khari, 124 in Rajgarh, 776 in Ramban, 424 in Ramsoo, 429 in Sangaldan and 543 in Ukhral block.
Under the PMAY-(R) scheme a total of 9028 houses have been sanctioned against the target of 10795 given to the Rural Development Department (RDD) upto 31 march 2020. Till now 8473 works have been taken up out of which 1303 have been completed and 7170 are in progress at different levels across the district. As many as 1545 houses are on the verge of completion.
Speaking on the occasion, the ACD Ramban said the PMAY is playing a central role for improving the living standard of the people belonging to economically weaker sections of the society. They are being provided clean and hygienic pucca houses with all basic amenities. RDD has disbursed Rs. 2 crore during the COVID-19 lockdown among the beneficiaries of rural areas under the scheme, the ACD added.
Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (PMAY) Urban (U), launched on 25th June 2015 by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi aims to provide housing for all in urban areas by 2022 on the eve of 75 years of independence to fulfill the vision of a developed India.
Executive Officer (EO) MC, Ramban informed that the beneficiaries have been selected on the basis of SECC 2011 data. The PMAY urban beneficiary family should neither own a pucca house either in his/her name nor in the name of any member of applicant’, he added.
In district Ramban PMAY (U) programme was launched in two phases. MC, Ramban, now Municipal Council was incorporated in the first phase of programme in 2017, whereas PMAY (U) has been launched in Municipal Committee Banihal and Batote under 2nd phase in 2019.
In MC Ramban 30 houses have been completed out of 146 sanctioned houses and 36 are on the verge of completion whereas Geo tagging of 127 houses have been completed and construction work of 94 houses is in progress at lintel, plinth and foundation level.
EO, MC Ramban informed that an amount of Rs. 1.66 lakh is being provided to a beneficiary under the scheme and till date an amount of Rs. 85.83 Lakh have been provided to the beneficiaries of MC Ramban.
Similarly 269 PMAY (U) houses have been sanctioned in second phase for MC Banihal and Batote including 154 houses in MC Banihal and 115 houses in Batote. Geo tagging of 251 houses have been completed and construction work of 80 houses is in progress at different level in both MCs.
Asha Devi a resident of ward number 6 Maitra of Ramban town is a widow and she earns her livelihood through menial work in a private school. She said that a pucca and safe house was a distant dream for her family, now it has become possible due to the launch of PMAY scheme.
“Now I am happy in my own dream home. Now during the coming monsoon season I and my family would not have to face leaking roof and damp walls, " she said.
Another beneficiaries Fareed Ahmed Sheikh dweller of ward number 1 of MC Ramban, said that he had never envisioned such people friendly initiative from government side in which government is reaching out at our doorsteps to provide financial assistance to us for the construction of pucca and safe house with all basic facilities.
“I express my gratitude to government for providing me a safe and affordable house. This is the first step in building a strong and healthy bond with the public where individuals and families can live with peace and harmony”, he said.