Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday told the Rajya Sabha that the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (housing scheme) for the urban areas would be completed within a very short foreseeable future and if there was more demand from the States then even the private sector was also coming up with affordable housing. He was responding to a question by the Opposition on whether every Indian had got a house under the scheme.
Trinamool Congress member Derek O’ Brien, citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement in July 2018 where he had said that by 2022 the government would ensure everyone had a house, said, “I am not going about doubling farmers’ income in 2022 or bullet train by 2022 or electricity for all. My specific question to the Minister is this. Is it happening in 2022? If it is not happening, can you tell us when will every Indian have a house? Just give us the year because it is the Prime Minister on record,” the Trinamool MP said.
Mr. Puri said that so far more than one crore houses had been constructed under the scheme and by the time final update for this financial year was received this number would stand at 1.15 crores. “With that, the entire objective of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban would be completed,” he said.
Slams States
He blamed the State governments for revising their targets. “What we are noticing is that some States demand the Centre, later on they change that, reduce some number, add a few more.”
