Since forming the government in 2014, the BJP-led NDA government has given consent to the construction of 45.86 lakh houses in metropolitan cities, registering an increase of nearly 240 percent when compared to the UPA governments 10-year tenure, as per official data.
Construction of 13.45 lakh houses was approved during UPA I and II under two schemes – Rajiv Awas Yojna (RAY) and Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), as stated by housing and urban affairs ministry data.
A senior official while quoting the data said that the 45.86 lakh houses have been sanctioned under the flagship scheme – Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY).
Under PMAY (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna), the government plans to construct around 1.2 crore houses for the urban poor by 2022.
The central assistance affirmed by the UPA government was to the tune of Rs 20,303 crore for development of 13.45 lakh houses for poor people, while the NDA government has endorsed Rs 70,716 crore for development of authorized 45.86 lakh houses up until this point, as indicated by the data.
Development of 8.04 lakh houses was finished in the UPA’s administration, while 7.25 lakh houses, including the houses left under the JNNURM and RAY, were built since the NDA government came to control in 2014, the authority said citing the data.
During its 10-year tenure, the UPA government released Rs 17,989 crore for the development of the houses, whereas the NDA government has released Rs 25,264 crore for the development of houses for urban poor.
The remarks came as a counter to Congress MP K C Venugopal attacking the administration over the usage of the scheme, asserting that the nationalised banks were not giving loans to the poor and that PMAY was ‘failing’.
Hardeep Singh Puri, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister has countered the lawmaker’s claim, saying that the scheme was a ‘roaring success’.