BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sanction special houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojan-Gramin (PMAY-G) to around 7.87 lakh people affected by cyclone Fani that hit state’s coast on May 3, 2019.
Naveen, in a letter to Modi, said Odisha has identified, geo-tagged and Aadhaar seeded around 7.87 lakh houses in 14 Fani-affected districts and requested to bring into the permanent wait list of PMAY-G and sanction special houses. This is Naveen’s second letter to the Prime Minister after November, last year requesting shelter security for all.
“Sanctioning special houses will not only provide relief to the Fani affected families, but also ensure safe housing to rural families to withstand the natural calamities in the cyclone prone districts,” noted Naveen.
The extremely severe cyclone Fani had caused extensive damages to the thatched houses besides public infrastructure in 14 coastal and adjoining districts. As Odisha is prone to natural calamities especially cyclones, the state government had earlier proposed the Centre to grant funds for construction of disaster-resilient houses for people residing along the coasts.
Apart from the Fani-affected, the chief minister also pointed out that around 6.07 lakh eligible households, have also left out form the permanent wait list of PMAY-G in 16 non-Fani affected districts.
“The ministry of rural development may be advised to open window of Awas plus mobile app to geo-tag these houses to accomplish the objective of safe housing for all,” said Naveen.
Under the PMAY, which is being implemented with fund sharing between the Centre and state at 60:40 ratio, target has been set to provide pucca houses to all poor families including landless people in the rural areas by March 2022.
The state government had recently claimed that record 1.14 lakh pucca houses were constructed in rural areas under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY-Gramin) despite lockdown restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic.