CHENNAI: About half of the total 13.92 lakh identified in the state to benefit from Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U) missed out on receiving a house until 2021 under the Union government scheme that rolled out in 2015, a CAG report pointed out.
A delay in submission of the details of the prospective beneficiaries, to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, before a March 2022 deadline and the delay in framing of a state housing policy led to 6.84 lakh in Tamil Nadu not being sanctioned a house during the period, it stated.
While the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) obtained sanction only for 7.08 lakh houses against the total demand during 2015-2021, the board could not properly assess the housing demand for 2019 to 2021 due to a delay in framing the Tamil Nadu Affordable Urban Housing and Habitat Policy, the CAG stated.
“The absence of an updated demand survey (through the policy) has deprived a large number of the urban poor from becoming beneficiaries,” it added. Further, the Union government did not allow additional sanctions for houses under the PMAY-U scheme beyond March 2022, it noted. The report also highlighted non-allotment and non-occupancy of constructed tenements, delay in completion and higher beneficiary contributions fixed for various tenements as major issues.
An audit of 4,536 tenements that came up in 43 projects under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs scheme discovered that only 2,463 of them were occupied as of October 2022, the CAG pointed out. The government, however, has assured of tangible action to allocate the balance tenements to beneficiaries.