J'khand govt to construct 80k houses for homeless under 'Abua Awas Yojana'

Under the leadership of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren state-supported Abua Awas Yojana (AAY) was given approval at a meeting of the council of ministers held here on Wednesday.

Under AAY, the state government is planning to construct 800,000 houses across Jharkhand and provide them to the poor and needy free of cost.

This comes after the Central government did not give its approval for the construction of more than 800,000 houses in the state.

"Under the said scheme, a target has been set to construct eight lakh pucca houses for the homeless. Under this, in the first phase, 2 lakh houses will be constructed in the financial year 2023-24, 03 lakh 50 thousand in 2024-25 and 02 lakh 50 thousand pucca houses will be constructed in 2025-26. The housing will be constructed in three phases at a cost of Rs 16 thousand 320 crore," Chief Minister's Secretariat said in a press release.

Under the umbrella of the Abua Awas Yojana, a three-room permanent house and kitchen will be built, having an area of 31 square meters.

"Under the scheme, provision has been made for a kitchen along with three rooms. There is a provision to increase the assistance amount for house construction under the scheme to Rs 2 lakh for eligible beneficiaries. Also, the beneficiary will receive a maximum equivalent of 95 unskilled man days at the current wage rate (revised from time to time) for the construction of his house under MGNREGA for the said scheme," the press release further said.

The benefit of the scheme will be extended to families living in kutcha houses, homeless and destitute families, families belonging to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), victims of natural calamities, and released bonded labourers.

"Those who have not been given the benefit of housing schemes run by the state and central Government like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Rural, Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Awas Yojana, Birsa Awas Yojana, Indira Awas Yojana etc shall be able to receive the benefits of the aforementioned scheme. According to the above-mentioned eligibility criteria, a permanent waiting list of the beneficiaries will be prepared in the Gram Sabha," the press release further said.