The Rural Development Ministry on Wednesday said that in January, it will focus on sanctioning 10 lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMJAY-G) as part of targets set for 2024-25. An official statement said the ministry will set monthly goals to ensure the implementation of rural development schemes on time and to help realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s dream of creating a poverty-free India.
The decisions were taken at a meeting of the ministry to decide the action plan for the month.
“Poverty-free villages is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pledge. Today, on the first day of new year, we have set some targets,” Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in a post on X.
“The schemes of the Rural Development Ministry are bringing a change in the lives of people. The effort is to ensure that all the beneficiaries get the benefits of these schemes in an effective and transparent manner as soon as possible,” he said.
The statement said poverty-free villages will be created by implementing government schemes on time.
“In January 2025, emphasis will be laid on sanctioning the pending 10 lakh houses against the target allocated earlier in the year 2024-25 and the first instalment will also be released to the beneficiaries,” it said.
In future, Chouhan said, targets for the ministry will be set on a monthly basis and efforts will continue to achieve those targets.
Reviewing the work being done under schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, PM-Awas, National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and DAY-NRLM, among others, Chouhan told the officials to work to achieve the set target within the next one month.
The PMAY-G was extended for the next five years in August and the target is to build two crore additional houses from 2024 to 2029.
Three major changes have been made to the scheme’s eligibility rules so that more families can benefit from it and the goal of housing for all can be achieved.
“There has been a continuous increase in the year-wise budget for the housing scheme and the highest budget of Rs 54,500 crore has been allocated for the financial year 2024-25,” the statement said.
A total of 31.65 lakh houses were sanctioned as against the target of 42 lakh in 2024-25 and 4.19 lakh, including 71,000 under the PM Janman programme, were completed from June to December, it said.
