7.2 million houses sanctioned under PMAY, says Puri
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, claimed his ministry has sanctioned around 7.2 million houses so far. This number is going to shot up even further before the election season kicks off, he said.
Delivering his speech at the ninth anniversary of Moneylife Foundation’ function which was held in BSE, Mumbai, he said the central monitoring and sanctioning committee clears around 3,00,0005,00,000 units every month. “In the month of September, they sanction 6,28,000 houses in one month.”
Under the ‘Housing For All’ scheme (also called Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana), the government had promised to sanction 10 million houses by 2022. Talking about this target, Puri said,“We have sanctioned around 7.2 million houses and before the code of conduct kicks in we would have taken the figure up to or more than 7.5 million.”
Breaking this number down further, Puri highlighted that out of the sanctioned houses, around 3.8-4 million have been grounded and around 1.4 million houses have been handed over to beneficiaries under this scheme. He added that for such schemes to become a successful, the state governments should also support the cause as these projects are depended mainly on land and land is a state subject.
Apart from housing for all, he spoke about the draft that is being developed specifically for the living space of retired people. “That process that started several months ago, is nearing completion.” He claimed that the draft was prepared in consultation with all stakeholders. “I will be in the position to write to chief ministers and send this draft across to them soon,” Puri stated.
The minister also stressed on various flagship schemes under the urban development such as Swaccha Bharat, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) etc.
Talking about Swaccha Bharat in urban context, he said that if we cannot maintain cleanliness, the urban schemes and talk of heritage is undermined and even nullified. He added making India open defecation free is important and this is not just about building toilets but also reprogramming Indian minds to adopt cleaner living habits.
Commenting on Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA), the minister said, “It has been 70 years since Independence and we did not have an independent regulator before (RERA). Nowhere in the world have I come across a situation where a sector as big as the real estate does not have a regulator. For eight years this legislation was lying around.”