‘Confident of completing housing for all in time’

NEW DELHI : The performance of the central government in providing housing has stood the test of the Covid-19 pandemic, rural development ministry secretary Nagendra Nath Sinha tells Saubhadra Edited excerpts:

The ministry data said that in FY19-20, 56.6% houses of the annual target were completed whereas in FY20-21, so far only 4.16% of the annual target has been completed.

We have to look at this data with the totality of the situation. The houses that are sanctioned in a financial year, their completion rate should be looked at only in the next financial year even as the ministry is encouraging the states and the beneficiaries to build houses as early as possible. Normally, we allow a year for completion of the houses, and treat a house as delayed only when the construction does not get completed in that period. We have cases where houses have been completed in just three months. We are happy that about 26 lakh houses have been completed so far in this financial year. This including those sanctioned last year and 2.65 lakh houses from this year’s targets.

For almost six months, the state governments have had their operations paralysed due to Covid-19 pandemic. So, most of the new PMAYG houses were sanctioned only after August and beneficiaries got only 5-6 months to build their houses in this financial year. In fact, we should celebrate that despite difficulties presented by Covid-19 and attendant circumstances, beneficiaries were able to complete 2.65 lakh houses in a period of less than six months.

We started this year with 1.42 crore sanctions and now we are at 1.91 crore of sanctions. Thus almost 49 lakh units have been sanctioned in this year. We are in the process of sanctioning more for which the states are being vigorously pursued.

A performance audit paper says pace of sanction has slowed down drastically due to as Covid-19, elections and saturation of SC/ST beneficiaries.

The availability of manpower in government offices had also been an issue. The other factor is that in some states, the Covid-19 situation seems to again look serious. So, the panic is still there. Another big problem is availability of land. The Centre is working with the states on this but after a series of land distribution programmes, there is very little land available near habitable areas. Some states have relaxed land norms, while some have allowed multistoried houses for the scheme.

Some states have also indicated financial constraints and have been very slow in sanctioning PMAYG houses. Some states have returned targets allocated to them. But even despite Covid-19, sanction of about 49 lakh houses is not a mean achievement. There are still 40 days left in this financial year and more houses will get completed.

Are you confident to achieve Housing for All by August 2022?

We have cases where houses have been completed in just three months. We are happy that about 26 lakh houses have been completed so far in this financial year

First of all, I dispute the way completion rate is measured. It should be measured against the sanctions of a year ago, while 4.16% achievement is against the current years’ sanction. In fact, we should see this achievement vis-a-vis the last year’s sanction. What you are mentioning as low performance, in fact should be counted as a superior performance in the exceptional circumstances of Covid-19, as these houses have been completed in less than 6 months’ time.

We started out with the permanent waiting list based on the SECC. We are confident of providing houses for all PW by the said period. Those who have come late through Awaas +, their houses will require some more time... Also, the states have been massively affected by Covid-19.

The PMAYG started with a target to build 2.95 crore houses. What is the progress on that target?

The SECC found 4.04 crore people didn’t have houses or had kaccha houses with not more than two rooms. The figures were verified by Gram Sabhas and the number came down to 2.95 crore. This was the target for PMAYG. Sanction of the houses is subject to verification as someone who didn’t have a house in 2011 SECC survey might have built a house in the intervening period, some people might have migrated permanently or died. Meanwhile, as Awaas+ survey has been undertaken where 3.57 lakh people claimed to be left out of SECC, 2011. We have asked states to conduct physical verification. Once completed, genuine claimants can be determined.