20,000 families get houses under central scheme

RANCHI: The Jharkhand government on Monday celebrated Gandhi Jayanti by giving away houses to 20,051 families of the economically weaker section under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) and declaring all 41 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) free of open defecation.

Chief minister Raghubar Das along with urban development minister C P Singh joined a grand housewarming programme in Ranchi on behalf of the beneficiaries to enable them enter their houses.

Though the preparations for the event were on for a long time, the urban development department managed to complete 20,051 of 91,000 houses sanctioned under PMAY.

Under the scheme, the state and the Centre contributed Rs 2.25 lakh towards construction of the 30sq mt houses built on the plots owned by the selected beneficiaries. After applying for houses under the PMAY scheme and due production of affidavit towards having annual income of less than Rs 3 lakh, the beneficiaries had to contribute around Rs 1.33 lakh to be able to get the houses.