Only 22% funds utilised in six Housing Ministry schemes

The Centre has been able to utilise only 22% of the funds allocated for the execution of six flagship schemes under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, according to a report by a Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by Pinaki Mishra. The schemes are the Smart Cities Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), National Urban Livelihood Mission and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

The report has taken strong exception to the severe under- utilisation of funds allocated for the enforcement of the aforementioned schemes and has asked the ministry to get its act together and address the problems. The ministry, headed by Hardeep Puri, has come under flak for the slow progress of these schemes. 1.

UTILISATION OF FUNDS UNDER HOUSING MINISTRY SCHEMES

AMRUT 28.74%

The report on demand for grants for 2018-19 said it was concerned to find that the actual utilisation of funds stood at 21.6%, or Rs 7,850.72 crore, out of Rs 36,194.39 crore released for the six flagship schemes since their launch. A total of Rs 48,548.64 crore was meant to be allocated to the schemes, but the funds were not released, the report said.

The report said: “At this pace, the realisation of almost all six flagships programmes would remain a distant dream in reality”.

The utilisation of funds for AMRUT scheme, which aims to provide water supply, sewerage and drainage facilities to 500 cities, was Rs