BHUBANESWAR: The State Government on Friday directed Collectors to credit the first installment of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) support to bank accounts of beneficiaries by December 15.
Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi, who took stock of the progress of rural housing schemes at a meeting here, said the disbursement is necessary for completion of houses in the current working season.
Collectors have also been asked to expedite disbursement of funds under Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana (BPGY) and Nirman Sramik Pucca Ghar Yojana (NSPGY) within a week. Padhi has set January, 2017 deadline for completion of all incomplete houses.
Under PMAY and BPGY and NSPGY, the sanction limits have been enhanced to `1.3 lakh and `1.2 lakh in IAP and non-IAP districts respectively from the current year. Since the sanction has been enhanced, Collectors must ensure that quality in construction of the houses is maintained, Padhi said.
Odisha had set the tone for other States with completion of six lakh units of rural housing projects during 2015-16. Of these, around four lakh housing units were completed by December 8, 2015. The State Government wants to repeat the success this time too.
Panchayati Raj Secretary DK Singh said this year, the project has been delayed because the revised guidelines from the Centre reached on November 20. As of now, 1.37 lakh houses have been completed while 3.77 lakh houses have been taken up for construction during the current year.
Padhi has directed that districts must complete the houses between March and May. Development Commissioner R Balakrishnan suggested the District level Appellate Committees to resolve grievances related to rural housing schemes at the earliest.
The meeting decided to reward block staff who follow up the projects and ensure completion of houses. It was decided that an incentive of `500 would be given for completion of each house within four months of issue of work order and release of first instalment.
The incentive for completing the houses within four to six months would be `300 while anyone ensuring between six and 12 months would be entitled to an incentive of `100 for each house.
Panchayati Raj Secretary Deo Ranjan Kumar Singh, Finance Secretary TK Pandey and Cooperation Secretary Manoj Ahuja were also present.