BHUBANESWAR: Even after repeated requests by Odisha, the Centre has finally declined to open Awaas+ window for synchronisation of data of 6.65 lakh eligible households from the State-owned rural housing portal.
“The exercise for identification of eligible households for Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yogana Gramin (PMAYG) assistance has already been completed by states after granting multiple extensions. There is no plan to open the Awaas+ portal in general for re-survey now,” said Union Minister of State for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti.
She was responding to queries from BJD MP Sasmit Patra who sought to know if the Awaas+ portal will be opened for the states including Odisha for uploading details of beneficiaries for assistance under the rural housing scheme.
The Minister said, the objective of Awaas+ exercise was the identification of households, who are eligible for assistance under PMAY-G as per the parameters specified under SECC-2011 but have not been included in the list of eligible beneficiaries in SECC database due to various reasons.
She said the Awaas+ survey for all states started in January 2018 with the initial deadline of March 31, 2018. The deadline was extended four times with the final date being March 7, 2019. Owing to cyclone-affected/natural calamities affected and certain reasonable and justified circumstances, special windows were granted to some states for registration of additional houses on Awaas+. The Minister said, for Odisha, the window opened for 30 days.
After MoRD rejected the State government’s request for further opening of the Awaas+ window on July 5, 2021, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give one more chance to Odisha for synchronisation of data of the left outhouses in the 16 districts not affected by Cyclone Fani.