'Anyone without own home in rural area can apply under new scheme'

Anyone living in a rural area who does not own a house can apply under the central government's Housing for All Mission irrespective of his caste and economic status, Union rural development minister Birender Singh said on Tuesday.

"We have gathered the data under socio-economic caste based census for allocation of funds to the needy under Housing for All Mission. Anyone who does not own a house can apply for it now and caste will be no bar for this scheme," Singh told reporters here.

Earlier, the governments would work with Below Poverty Line (BPL) lists and give priority to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes applicants in the provision of housing under the central-funded schemes.

That would no longer be the case now, according to the minister.

"Earlier we use to make lists of people living below the poverty line so that they could apply for these houses. Now the case will not be the same although there will be an inclusion and exclusion criteria so that anyone who needs a house can be added to the list, Birender Singh said.