Months before Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, the Bhupesh Baghel government on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, announced an ambitious rural housing project that seeks to counter some of the criticism against his government.
Ease approvals
Titled Gramin Awas Nyay Yojana, the scheme will be funded by the State and is meant to ease the process of receiving grants for eligible beneficiaries, the CM said in a tweet.
“Due to the determination of eligibility for Prime Minister’s Rural Housing on the basis of the survey list of Socio-Economic Survey 2011 [Actual name: Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011], needy families are facing difficulty in getting housing approval. To overcome this, on the basis of a survey conducted by the Panchayat and Rural Development Department, I have decided to start ‘Gramin Awas Nyay Yojana’ for eligible families from the resources of the state,” tweeted Mr. Baghel.
The State’s failure to provide matching grants to construct houses meant for the rural poor under the Centre’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana (PMAY) had been flagged by present Deputy Chief Minister, T S Singh Deo, who relinquished the Panchayati Raj portfolio a year ago [July 16, 2022].
Mr. Singh Deo – who was said to be locked in a power tussle with Mr. Baghel before their recent patch up – pegged the number of beneficiaries at nearly 8,00,000 and insisted that not a single house under the scheme was constructed during the Congress’ government’s tenure. The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party happily made use of the issue, launching a door-to-door campaign Mor Aawaas Mor Adhikaar [my house, my right ]. The party pegs the number of beneficiaries who lost out at 16 lakh.
“There are 12 lakh beneficiaries shortlisted under the SECC, a UPA-era survey, waiting for their houses to be constructed and another 4 lakh shortlisted under the Aawas Plus list. After snatching their houses, they are talking about new surveys, lists and new sanctions just three months before the elections. They are only confusing the people of Chhattisgarh who won’t forgive them,” said BJP spokesperson OP Choudhary,
