The ministry’s submission to the panel stated that many beneficiaries are unwilling to move into these homes because the necessary infrastructure, such as roads, water, electricity, and sewage systems, is not yet in place. The problem is more prevalent in houses built under the In-situ Slum Redevelopment (ISSR) vertical, where nearly 70% of the houses remain unoccupied.
The Parliamentary panel has recommended that the ministry should closely monitor the progress of housing projects, address delays in construction and allotment, and ensure better coordination between the central and state governments.
Out of the 9.7 lakh houses completed under both the Affordable Housing Partnership (AHP) and ISSR verticals, only about 5.1 lakh are currently occupied. The main reasons for the low occupancy, as outlined by the states, include incomplete infrastructure, delayed allotment of houses, and some beneficiaries’ unwillingness to move in.
According to the PMAY-U guidelines, state governments are responsible for providing trunk infrastructure (like roads, water, and sewage systems) using their own resources. However, many state governments have not yet been able to provide this, which has resulted in the houses remaining vacant.
The Centre has provided a fixed amount of financial assistance under both verticals: Rs 1 lakh for each house under the ISSR vertical and Rs 1.5 lakh under the AHP. Despite this, over 4.1 lakh houses out of about 9 lakh houses built under AHP are still unoccupied. And as many as 47,510 houses out of 67,806 houses built under the ISSR vertical remain empty. Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha was informed last week that over 88 lakh houses have been delivered to the beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), according to a PTI report. Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu said that over 1.18 crore houses have been sanctioned by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs till November 18. In August this year, the Cabinet approved the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana -Urban (PMAY -U) 2.0 which aims to build 1 crore house with focus on equity among different segments of the country’s population.
The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana -Urban was launched in 2015 with an aim to provide housing for all. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affair has sanctioned 17.5 lakh houses since 2015 so far. The scheme was supposed to end in 2022, but it has been extended till Dec 31, 2024 to complete the sanctioned houses.