In a landmark decision that will benefit tens of thousands of homeless freedom fighters and families, with annual income less than Rs 3 lakh, living in villages, the Captain Amarinder Singh led Punjab cabinet on Thursday gave its nod to the implementation of the Punjab Pendu Awaas Yojna (PPAY).A Cabinet meeting held today under the chairmanship of Captain Amarinder decided to implement the scheme in a phased manner, with all the houseless freedom fighters to be covered in the first phase, subject to them being residents of the respective villages in which they intend to construct the house. It has been clarified under the scheme that a married houseless/landless son(s) living in joint family, but having separate Electricity Connection or Ration Card, would be eligible to avail benefits under the scheme.Giving details of the scheme, an official spokesperson said a beneficiary would be given Rs.1.20 lakh by the state government, besides 90 mandays or labour, which would be provided to him in convergence with MGNREGA. In addition, a toilet would be constructed in the house at a cost of Rs.12,000 under the MGNREGA/Swachh Bharat Mission. The house to be constructed under the scheme by the beneficiary would be of about 25 squre metres with one room, kitchen and a toilet.In the first phase, eligible freedom fighters, followed by applicants found eligible under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (Gramin) (PMAY) (G) with annual family income up to Rs. 1.2 lakh would be covered. In the second phase, to be undertaken after an year, applicants with an annual family income from Rs. 1.20 lakh to Rs. 3.00 lakh would be covered.
The spokesperson said the applicants found eligible under PMAY (G) would be provided funds under PMAY (G), with the state government making adequate budget allocation for the scheme every year. Panchayats having their own sources of income would also be able to utilize those funds for the purpose of this scheme. Additionally, industrialists would be encouraged to contribute under Corporate Social Responsibility for this scheme. NRIs and the general public would also be motivated to contribute.Interested applicants would be required to submit their applications in the prescribed proforma in the office of the concerned Block Development and Panchayat Officer. A screening committee would be constituted at the Block level and would comprise the Block Development and Panchayat Officer as its Chairperson, with Sarpanch, three members of Gram Panchayat at least one of whom would be a woman, and one person from Scheduled Caste and Village Nambardar as its members. The concerned Panchayat Secretary/Gram Sewak would be its Member Secretary. Beneficiaries selected under this scheme would have to open an Aadhaar linked account in Scheduled Commercial Banks, in which the grant would be directly transferred to their bank accounts through DBT.The decision is in line with the Captain Amarinder led government’s focus on providing houses to the needy to ensure that every citizen has a roof over his/her head. The government, at its maiden meeting in March 2017, had taken significant decisions to provide free built-up houses (living accommodation) or 5 Marla plots to eligible homeless SC/OBC families.