Central govt’s housing scheme fails to take off in South Goa

ROQUE DIAS | NT

MARGAO

As many as 817 applications received by the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) from Margao citizens a year ago, seeking assistance for housing under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Housing For All (PMAY) scheme are gathering dust for want of land.

According to sources, the authorities are struggling to find land in the busy Margao town and its peripheral areas to construct a building and implement the scheme that was introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015.

This central government scheme with a budget of Rs 2,96,919 crore for the whole country and introduced with an aim of providing housing for all has failed to take off in South Goa till date  primarily because of paucity of land.

“We have written to the Margao Housing Board, which is the nodal agency for the PMAY scheme in Margao, to find a place for us to construct a building to implement the scheme announced by the central government. If we don’t receive a positive reply from the Margao Housing Board, we will have a problem,” said Sandesh Sail, a GSUDA official designated to oversee the scheme.

He, however, said that the applicants of Margao would be given preference in the housing project proposed at Sheldem in Quepem where buildings will be constructed and around 225 genuine houseless applicants will be accommodated. The preference for Margao applicants will be given only if the applicants from nearby towns like Sanguem, Curchorem and Quepem refuse the offer, he said. “The Quepem-Sheldem Housing Board project will be completed in the next two years,” he said.

Officials of Hyderabad’s Osmania University, which has been given the task of creating awareness about the central scheme in the two districts of Goa, have provided detailed information about the scheme to Margao councillors. A few days after the awareness programme, many applications related to the housing scheme were received by an official especially deputed in the Margao municipal council. These applications were later forwarded to GSUDA in Panaji for further perusal.

According to S Ravi, who provided awareness about the scheme,  the housing scheme has four components – Credit-linked subsidy scheme (CLSS) wherein loans upto Rs 6 lakh will be provided with 3.5 per cent interest

payable in 20 years, In-situ slum redevelopment  (ISSR) wherein people residing on government land will be provided assistance for housing, Affordable housing in partnership (AHP) under which slum dwellers belonging to the economically weaker section will be eligible for Rs one lakh grant and Beneficiary-led individual house construction/enhancement (BLC) under which central government grant of Rs 1.5 lakh will be provided to construct house.

Sources in GSUDA said that out of the 817 applications received, seven have been approved in the in-situ slum redevelopment category.