Centre has withdrawn Chhattisgarh’s PMAY allocation over ‘slow progress’

The Centre has withdrawn the allocation of homes to Chhattisgarh under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin scheme, saying repeated persuasion to speed up implementation of the scheme hasn’t led to satisfactory results.

This comes less than two weeks after Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel wrote to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to release all grants so that the state can continue implementing centrally-funded welfare schemes.

A letter issued by the ministry of rural development to the Chhattisgarh government, dated November 17, says: “Chhattisgarh has not expedited the progress of satisfactory results in respect of various parameters, like registrations of new houses, sanctioning of new houses to PMAY-G beneficiaries and completion of previous allocated houses. Besides, there’s the release of long-pending state’s share under PMAY.”

All the factors taken together have resulted in poor performance of the state under the scheme, and Chhattisgarh has failed to utilize the targeted allocations, it says.

“Hence, the target of 7,81,999 houses in rural areas allocated to the state for financial year 2021-22 has been withdrawn with immediate effect. The state will not be allowed to seek targets from the Awas,” the letter reads.

An officer of the Chhattisgarh government said the state will write to the ministry to revoke the decision, saying the state couldn’t pay its share due to the pandemic.

Congress spokesperson Dhananjay Singh Thakur called it “step-motherly behavior” by the Modi government towards Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh, and accused it of bias. “The Centre has made it mandatory to register with RERA to avail of PMAY funds, but the same rule is not being applied in BJP-ruled states,” Thakur said.

“The Centre is yet to pay Rs 1,500 crore as second instalment of its 1,100 projects. Doesn’t this mean that the Centre is not committed to its execution? In the past three years, the Centre has withdrawn or reduced many central schemes, including the drinking water programme, National Urban Livelihood Mission and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan. The Centre owes the state more than Rs 13,000 crore under several schemes,” Thakur said.