Cabinet approves 3 cr PMAY homes

New Delhi: With the BJP receiving a major dent among the rural electorate, leading to the loss of a majority in Parliament on its own, the party sought to cover some ground at the first Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday by rolling out a mega assistance plan to construct three crore houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana for underprivileged households and also released a fund worth Rs 20,000 crores for the benefit of around 9.3 crore farmers under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme.

After taking charge, Prime Minister Modi signed his first file authorising release of the 17th instalment of PM Kisan Nidhi.

In the evening, the Union Cabinet led by Mr Modi, in its first decision, decided to provide assistance to build three crore rural and urban houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

The Centre has been implementing PMAY since 2015-16 to provide assistance to eligible rural and urban households for the construction of houses with basic amenities. Under the scheme, as many as 4.21 crore houses have been completed for eligible poor families in the last 10 years.  
All the houses constructed under PMAY will provide other basic amenities like household toilets, LPG connections, electricity connections and a functional household tap, among others, through convergence with other schemes of the Centre and state governments.

“It has been decided in the Cabinet meeting today to provide assistance to three crore additional rural and urban households for the construction of houses, to meet the housing requirements arising out of the increase in the number of eligible families,” sources said.

After assuming office, Mr Modi said whle addressing officers and staff of the PMO that it has been his endeavour to make the PMO an institution of service and the “people’s PMO” from the very beginning. “We have tried to develop the PMO as a catalytic agent which becomes a source of new energy and inspiration,” he said.

Mr Modi said it was the government’s resolve to ensure new energy of strength, dedication and resolve and expressed confidence that the PMO was primed to serve the people with dedication.

He highlighted that it was not Mr Modi alone who runs the government but thousands of minds that come together and shoulder the responsibilities, and as a result, it is the citizens who become witnesses to the magnificence of its abilities.

Mr Modi underlined that the people who belong to his team have no time constraints, limits to thinking or any set benchmarks for effort. “The entire nation has faith in this team,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister took the opportunity to thank those who have been a part of his team and also exhorted those who wish to join and become a part of the journey of “Viksit Bharat” for the next five years and dedicate themselves to nation-building. “Together, we will achieve the target of ‘Nation First’ with one intention of ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’,” the PM said. He also reiterated that his every moment belongs to the nation.

The Prime Minister credited employees of the Government of India who dedicated themselves to a vision and said that they deserve a huge share in the government’s achievements. “These elections put a stamp of approval on the efforts of the government employees,” Mr Modi said.