Chhattisgarh CM writes to PM Modi for housing funds under PM Awas Yojana

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel sought assistance for 699,439 families on the permanent waiting list for houses and an additional 47,090 families

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the allocation of funds under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

Launched in 2015, the PMAY facilitates access to affordable housing for the country's low- and moderate-income residents.

In his letter, CM Baghel sought assistance for 699,439 families on the permanent waiting list for houses and an additional 47,090 families identified in the Chhattisgarh government's Socio-Economic Survey 2023.

In the letter, the Chief Minister said that his government had already decided to release the state's share to provide housing benefits to these families.

In an earlier letter dated July 3, the Chhattisgarh government had asked for the allocation of targets for 819,999 families under the Awas Plus, in addition to the 699,439 families on the permanent waiting list.

In his recent letter, Baghel said that the Centre had withdrawn the target of 781,999 houses sanctioned for the financial year 2021-22.

The letter stated: "As of now, there has been no response from the Government of India regarding the requests made by the state government."

Baghel stated that based on the 2011 census, the Union government had created the permanent waiting list, and in 2018, it compiled the Awas Plus list, which included 818,989 eligible families in addition to those on the permanent waiting list.

He also mentioned in the letter that the Centre conducted a socio-economic and caste census/BPL survey every 10 years, but it has not yet been carried out since 2011.

The Chief Minister said that the state government had decided to allocate its share of funds to construct houses for 699,438 families on the permanent waiting list and 47,090 homeless families identified in the Economic Survey 2023 conducted by the Chhattisgarh government.