Housing scheme govt’s fight against poverty, says Modi
PMAY Hands over keys to 10 beneficiaries in the temple town of Shirdi in Maharashtra SHIRDI
:Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Friday the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) was his government’s endeavour to eradicate poverty and urged the beneficiaries of the scheme to empower their next generations through education.
Narendra Modi interacted with the 40,000 beneficiaries of the PMAY of 29 districts of Maharashtra through video-conferencing at the ‘e-griha pravesh’ ceremony from the temple town of Shirdi in Ahmednagar district. Before the interaction session, the PM handed over symbolic keys to ten beneficiaries of PMAY.
He added those who have got pucca houses under the scheme should also avail the benefits of the goverment’s Ayushman Bharat healthcare scheme. He elaborately spoke about Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PM-JAY), popularly known as Ayushman Bharat.
Prime Minister Modi said, “PM-JAY is going to benefit 50 crore citizens by providing them with a health insurance of up to ₹5 lakh. It hasn’t even been one month but as many as 1 lakh people have already utilised its benefits.” He sought to highlight the difference between his and the previous governments, saying the current dispensation was working “faster” for providing shelter to the poor.
He attacked the previous UPA government for not building sufficient homes for the poor. “In the final four years of the UPA rule, they built only 2.5 lakh homes for the poor. In the past four years of the BJP government, we have constructed 1.25 crore houses for the poor with full amenities, which will empower them,” Modi said.
“If that (UPA-II) government had continued, then at their speed it would have taken 20 years to provide 1.25 crore homes and the poor masses would have had to suffer for two decades waiting for their dream home,” Modi added.
Modi said that while the previous government took 18 months to build one house, the present government readied them in just 12 months, giving bigger areas, with all amenities like toilet, electricity, water and gas, besides increasing government subsidy from ₹70,000 to ₹120,000 per home, with the money transferred directly to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts.
Modi also launched development projects worth ₹475 crore initiated by the temple trust and participated in the centenary celebrations of Mahasamadhi of Saibaba. Observing that Maharashtra has reported deficient rainfall this year, Modi assured that the Centre would provide assistance to the state through the PM Crop Insurance Scheme.
The Prime Minister also lauded the state government’s ‘Jalyukt Shivar Yojana’- a water conservation scheme, saying that it helped 16,000 villages. Speaking on the occasion, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said 2.5 lakh beneficiaries got ownership of houses under the PMAY on Friday. He said the state wanted six lakh more houses and if allotted, they would construct them by October next year. “Construction of four and a half lakh houses is on and will be completed by December this year,” Fadnavis said.