2.77 lakh more houses to be sanctioned in Rajasthan under PMAY in April: Minister

New Delhi, Mar 20 (PTI) Around 2.77 lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) will be approved in Rajasthan in April, Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Thursday after a meeting with Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma.

An official statement also said Singh agreed to the Rajasthan government's proposal of granting Rs 126 crore as advance under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), and assured the state's dues under the MGNREGS will be cleared in April.

Singh lauded the work being done by the Rajasthan government for creating 'poverty-free villages'.

"Several innovations are being done by Rajasthan. One of the new initiatives is the target to create 5,000 poverty-free villages, where no persons would be BPL (below poverty line)," Singh said.

He said central and state schemes will be used for creating poverty free villages, and the state government has also made provision in the budget for any additional requirements.

He said 2.77 lakh more house will be sanctioned in the state under the PMAY, and work is also progressing on identifying more beneficiaries.

"Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), a target of 24 lakh houses was set for Rajasthan. Of this, around 20 lakh have been completed and work is progressing on rest of the houses," the union minister said.

"Based on the 2018 Awas plus survey, around 2.77 lakh more houses will be sanctioned for Rajasthan. The 2018 list will be saturated by April," he said.

He added that surveys are being undertaken to identify more eligible beneficiaries under the PMAY.

Appreciating the work being done by the state under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, he said the process for approving roads for the fourth phase of the scheme is going on.

"Another scheme where Rajasthan is doing a good job is under the 'Lakhpati Didis scheme," he said.

Singh said four lakh women SHG workers have become 'Lakhpati Didis' so far, and the state has set a target of empowering 25 lakh women under the scheme.

The state has also come up with new concepts of Solar Didi - women SHG members who will work in the field of solar energy, and 'tourism Didi'.

Noting that some districts in Rajasthan did not have Rural Self Employment Training Institutes, Singh said the centre would provide Rs 2 crore for constructing each building, and the state government will have to provide land.

Sharma, meanwhile, said innovations being done by the state are getting support from the centre, and thanked the union government. PTI AO TIR TIR

Source: PTI