Minorities comprise 15% of PMAY beneficiaries in urban areas: Govt
According to the minister, 173,350 houses have been sanctioned to Christians, followed by Sikh - 49,670 houses, Buddhist - 19,707, Jainism - 10,457, and Zoroastrianism - 1,127
 "Minorities comprise 15% of PMAY beneficiaries in urban areas: Govt")
A total 15.15 per cent of beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) belong to religious minorities, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry told the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
In a written reply to a question, Minister of State for HUA Tokhan Sahu said that of the total beneficiaries from minority communities, around 1.3 million houses have been sanctioned to Muslims - 12.74 per cent.
According to the minister, 173,350 houses have been sanctioned to Christians, followed by Sikh - 49,670 houses, Buddhist - 19,707, Jainism - 10,457, and Zoroastrianism - 1,127.
Launched in June 2015, PMAY-U is implemented through states and Union Territories in the spirit of co-operative federalism, he said, adding, over 1.18 crore houses have been sanctioned under the scheme so far.
"Of the sanctioned houses, 11.4 million have been grounded for construction; of which 8.5 million have been completed/delivered," Sahu said in the reply.
The scheme period, which was earlier up to March 31, 2022, has been extended till December this year, except Credit-Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) vertical of the scheme, to complete all the houses sanctioned without changing the funding pattern and implementation methodology.