BHUBANESWAR: The dispute over co-branding of houses constructed under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) has taken a new turn with the Centre denying permission to the State government for use of Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana (BPGY) logo. Responding to the March 12, 2021 letter from the State government regarding co-branding of PMAY-G houses, Union Rural Development Secretary Nagendra Nath Sinha said BPGY logo is not permissible under the provision of PMAY-G.
In his reply to Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, Sinha advised to use the official logo of the PMAY-G only which is available on the AwaasSoft website. “I wish to reiterate here that the scheme PMAY-G has been approved by the Union Cabinet as a Centrally-sponsored scheme and approved as PMAY-G for the budget in Parliament. The scheme is to be implemented in its original form and under the agreed funding pattern. No other name can be appended. The Ministry had conveyed to the states/UTs in the past to use only the official logo of PMAY-G,” he said.
He further said the contribution of the minimum State share from its resources is a commitment by the State government for the implementation of a Centrally-sponsored scheme. It does not confer the rights to the State government for use of any other logo than PMAY-G. “This will also lead to misinterpretation of the scheme among the PMAY-G beneficiaries about the benefits of the scheme,” he added. As the protest from BJP over the use of ‘Biju’ logo grew louder and the ruling BJD justified it saying the State’s share in the rural housing scheme came to around 51 per cent and 56 per cent taking into account the incentives provided to beneficiaries on timely completion, the Chief Secretary had sought permission from the Rural Development Ministry for co-branding of PMAY-G houses.