12 lakh families in Odisha yet to get pucca house

Bhubaneswar, Aug 14: Over 12 lakh families in Odisha are yet to have pucca house after 75 years of independence despite several government schemes to help the people of the country for construction of pucca house. According to the information provided by Odisha Panchayati Raj Minister in the state Assembly, 12,24,725 families are yet to have pucca house to achieve the ‘housing for all’ target by 2022. The 2011 census data revealed that Odisha had 91,84,785 families, out of which 42 families had pucca house when 50,000 families were living under polythene. The rest people had pucca house, tile or asbestos house. In the last 11 years, number of families in the state has risen to 95 lakh. The state economic survey report says the state government has constructed around 30 lakh houses in rural areas under different schemes between 2014 and 21. As many as 26.40 lakh families have got house under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). Rest 3.70 lakh families were provided house under state government schemes. Out of the 42 lakh families were living in kutcha house, the government has to convert another 12 lakh kutcha houses of poor families to pucca structures to achieve the ‘housing for all’ target by 2022. However, the Rural Development Ministry data differs from Odisha government.  According to the AWAS Plus portal, a total of 21.79 lakh families from Odisha have been included in the Central scheme. As many as 4.81 lakh families were beneficiary under the former Indira Awas Yojana and 16.89 lakh families have been provided financial assistance under the PMAY for construction of pucca house. The Odisha government claiming over 26 lakh beneficiaries have been provided pucca house under PMAY, but the Centre saying that around 17 lakh families have been benefited under the Central scheme which is nine lakh less than the state’s figure. According to AWAS Plus portal, the Centre has set a target to provide house to 26,95,837 families. While 73 percent beneficiaries of the target number have been sanctioned house, 67 percent have completed construction and the rest 27 percent (around 7.27 lakh) are yet to be registered under the scheme.