PATNA: The Bihar government has appealed to the Centre to release the pending Rs 3,000 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) without delay, as funds meant for beneficiaries remain stuck.
Replying to a query during question hour in the Assembly, Rural Development Minister Sharvan Kumar said the Centre had released Rs 91 crore in January, and the amount was "distributed among PMAY-G beneficiaries without an SNA account". He said the state government has so far faced difficulties in creating a Single Nodal Agency (SNA) account for the distribution of funds under the scheme.
“We have urged the Centre to release Rs 3,000 crore, which we can distribute to the beneficiaries without SNA," he added.
The Single Nodal Agency system was introduced in 2021 as a major reform in the release, disbursal and monitoring of funds for centrally sponsored schemes. Under PMAY-G, funds are transferred directly to beneficiaries’ accounts from the SNA through the PFMS-Awaas Soft platform.
The Centre has set a target of over 12.19 lakh houses for Bihar under PMAY-G for the financial years 2024-25 and 2025-26. Of these, 2.96 lakh houses have been completed, while 9.23 lakh are still under construction, according to the state government.
As many as 72,492 beneficiaries are yet to receive their first instalment for house construction under the scheme. More than 11.36 lakh beneficiaries have received their first instalment, but only 7.47 lakh among them have received the second instalment so far.
The minister told the House that funds are urgently required so that beneficiaries can complete construction of their houses. He said the Centre had directed the state government to open a nodal account for the allocation of funds.
Sharvan Kumar admitted that the state government failed to comply with the Centre’s directive, leading to the funds being stuck and beneficiaries waiting for payment. He informed the House that he had met the Union minister and sought a waiver from opening the nodal account till January 31.
Funds were released after the meeting, he said, but they again got stuck as the nodal account could not be opened. “Now we have urged the Centre to extend the date till March 31 this year,” he added.