Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana (PMGAY) - All Details

The Rural Housing Programme started with the Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) in January 1996 as an independent programme. The IAY addressed the rural housing needs, but specific gaps were identified during audits and evaluations by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India in 2014. To fill the gaps in the Rural Housing Programme, the Government restructured the IAY into the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana (PMGAY), keeping in view the Government’s commitment to providing “Housing for All’’ by 2022. The Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin came into effect from 1st April 2016. 

The PMGAY aims to provide pucca houses consisting of basic amenities by 2020 to all households living in dilapidated and kutcha houses and the houseless families. The target number of houses to be constructed under this scheme is 2.95 crore by 2021-22 for achieving the objectives of “Housing for All”. The immediate objective of this scheme is to cover one crore households living in a kutcha house or dilapidated houses in three years, i.e. from 2016-17 to 2018- 19. It will enable the beneficiaries for the construction of quality houses using local materials, trained masons and designs.

Features of Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana

• The minimum unit (house) size under this scheme is enhanced to 25 sq. mt, which consists of a dedicated area for hygienic cooking as against 20 sq. mt under the IAY.
• The unit assistance provided under this scheme is enhanced to Rs.1.20 lakh, in plains as against Rs.70,000 and to Rs.1.30 lakh in hilly states, difficult areas and Integrated Action Plan (IAP) districts as against Rs.75,000.
• The cost of the unit (house) assistance is shared between the Central and State Governments in plain areas in the ratio of 60:40 and the North-Eastern Region, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand in the ratio of 90:10.
• Providing assistance of Rs.12,000 for toilets through convergence with MGNREGS, Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G) or any other dedicated source of funding.
• The beneficiaries of this scheme are entitled to 90/95 person-days of unskilled labour wage from MGNREGS for construction of the houses above the unit assistance.
• The beneficiaries are identified and selected based on the housing deficiency and other social deprivation parameters in Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data and verified by the Gram Sabha.
• For providing technical support in achieving the targets set under the project, a National Technical Support Agency at the national level is set up. The beneficiaries will also be aided financially for the construction of the house.
• The beneficiaries will be facilitated to avail a loan from the Financial Institutions up to Rs.70,000, if they choose to avail loans.
• This scheme has convergence with other government schemes to provide basic amenities such as electricity connection, drinking water, LPG connection, toilets, etc.
• The entire payment to the beneficiaries is made electronically to their bank or post office accounts that are linked with Aadhaar.

Beneficiary Under PMAY-G

The eligibility criteria which must be met to qualify as a beneficiary under the PMAY-G scheme are:

• Houseless and household families who have a house consisting of zero, one or two rooms with kutcha wall and roof as per SECC data.
• Households without any literate adult member aged above 25 years.
• Households without any adult member aged between 16 to 59 years.
• Female-headed households without an adult male member aged between 16 to 59 years.
• Households with a disabled member or without any able-bodied members.
• Landless households whose primary income is from casual labour.

The following criteria are automatically eligible under the PMGAY scheme:

• Households without shelter
• Primitive tribal groups
• Manual scavengers
• Legally released bonded labourers
• Destitute or living on alms

The following individuals are excluded and are not eligible to be a beneficiary under the PMAY-G scheme:

• Individuals who have a motorised two-wheeler, three-wheelers, four-wheelers, agricultural equipment or fishing boat
• Individuals having a Kisan Credit Card with a limit equal to or more than Rs.50,000
• Household having at least one member who is earning more than Rs.10,000 per month
• Household having at least one member who is employed with the Government
• Any individual who pays income tax or professional tax
• Any individual who owns a landline phone connection or refrigerator

Beneficiary Registration Under PMAY-G

An individual who fulfils the eligibility criteria of this scheme can register himself to be recognised as a beneficiary under this scheme. But, the individual cannot register himself directly. He should be added as a beneficiary by the concerned Gram Panchayat or ward member. 

The individual needs to contact the Gram Panchayat or ward member to enrol under this scheme. The authorities will communicate the details regarding the PMAY-G application to the individual. Then, the individual needs to fill up the application form available from the respective Gram Panchayats. The Government will consider the individuals who have submitted applications for this scheme, and the individuals selected by the authorities. The Government will then prepare the final list of beneficiaries for this scheme after verification by the Grama Sabha. 

The respective Gram Panchayat or authority should add/register the beneficiaries selected in the final list on the Awaassoft (MIS) which is the e-governance model under this scheme. Awaassoft (MIS) shows the progress of construction of houses under this scheme at different stages of construction. The end to end tracking and monitoring of transactional processes and e-payments are done based on the reports available in the public domain on Awaassoft. 

The beneficiaries can be added to Awaassoft (MIS) by the respective Gram Panchayat or authority by logging into the PMAY-G website. The registration process of beneficiaries under Awaassoft consists of mainly four sections – Bank account details, Personal details, Convergence details and Details from the concerned office. 

After logging into the PMAY-G website, the details of ‘Panchayat’ and ‘Social Category’ of the beneficiary is to be filled in the ‘Beneficiary Registration Form’, and an auto-generated ‘Search’ button will appear displaying the list of the respective household. When clicked on the ‘Search’ button, a list of the corresponding beneficiary name with his/her PMAY ID and priority will appear and the user should select the respective beneficiary to register from the list. 

Next, the four sections of the beneficiary details should be filled, i.e. Personal details, Convergence details, Bank account details, and Details from the concerned office. The Aadhaar number, MGNREGA-registered beneficiary job card number, consent document to use Aadhaar on behalf of the beneficiary, Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) number and bank account details are required at the time of adding a beneficiary. 

The beneficiary under the PMAY-G can view his/her details such as the bank account details, application status, house and site allotted, house status, house sanction details, etc. after registration on the Awaassoft (MIS) from the PMAY-G website.

Implementation of Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana

The PMAY-G scheme implementation and monitoring are done through an end to end e-Governance model using Awaassoft and Awaas App. Awaassoft is a web-based, work-flow enabled electronic service delivery platform through which the critical functions of PMAY-G are carried out. It carries out functions starting from the identification of the beneficiary to providing construction linked assistance to them. 

Awaas App is a mobile application which is used to monitor evidence-based real-time progress of house construction through date, time-stamped and geo-referenced photographs of the houses. All payments to the beneficiaries under this scheme are made through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to the post office or bank account of the beneficiaries registered in Awaassoft (MIS). 

PMAY-G is not only monitored electronically but also through community participation (Social Audit), Central and State Government officials, National Level Monitors, Member of Parliament (DISHA Committee), etc.