Assam completes 1st phase of PMAY-G; CM hands sanction letters to 3.25L families

Boko, Dec 9: In a major push to strengthen rural housing, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday distributed sanction letters to more than 3.25 lakh families across the state under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–Gramin (PMAY-G).

At a state-level event in Boko, where he handed over the letters, Sarma said the day’s sanctioning marked the completion of the first phase of the flagship rural housing scheme and extended his wishes to the beneficiary families.

“Today, we have provided over 3.25 lakh families in Assam with houses under PMAY-G. All the names in the waiting list have been completed,” he told the press, on the sidelines of the event.

The Chief Minister also added that the next stage of the scheme would begin with new geo-tagging. “A huge phase has been completed and simultaneously, a new one has begun,” he said.

Addressing a large gathering earlier, the Chief Minister thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing what he described as a “safe and dignified housing solution” to the poor.

“Today, after distributing sanction letters across Assam, we will immediately release the first instalment required for construction,” he said.

Recalling a milestone event from March, 2024, Sarma said that on March 9, at Jorhat’s Meleng Meteli, more than 5 lakh completed houses had been handed over to beneficiary families in the presence of the Prime Minister, accompanied by a massive griha pravesh ceremony.

Sarma stressed that the completion of the first phase did not mean that all needs had been met. Many deserving families, he said, had been left out earlier due to limitations in the initial geo-tagging process.

He informed that the Prime Minister had already approved construction of 5 crore more houses under the nationwide scheme and had instructed officials to carry out fresh geo-tagging.

“Over the past six months, officials visited households and completed the second round of geo-tagging. Around 30 lakh households have now been mapped, and from these, we will identify those without a home and extend assistance accordingly,” he said.

Earlier in May, the Chief Minister had noted that when Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan visited Guwahati in January, about 6 lakh PMAY-G houses in Assam were pending.

He had further noted that the Minister had approved 3 lakh houses then (in January) and an additional 3.73 lakh on May 17, ensuring that no beneficiary was left behind.

Calculated at Rs 1.5 lakh per house, Sarma had added, the sanction announced that day amounted to an estimated Rs 6,000 crore.