2.7 Lakh Houses Completed in Assam under Govt's PMAY Scheme, Says Minister Naba Doley

Guwahati:

Naba Kumar Doley, Panchayat & Rural Development Minister of Assam, today said that the Prime Minister's vision to provide housing to eight crore Indians by 2022 has been met with roaring success in Assam, where around five lakh twenty five thousand lakh people have benefited from the scheme.

Doley said that the Government under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) intends to benefit eight crore Indians by 2020, adding that nine lakh have been earmarked as potential beneficiaries under the PMAY. In the last three years, Doley said, five lakh twenty five thousand houses have been taken up out of which, around two lakh seventy thousand houses have been completed under the scheme. 

From 24 April onwards, the (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) MGNREGA operations have been carried out as per the Centre's guidelines, said Doley, adding that guidelines such as following of social distancing and wearing of masks is being prescribed to the workers. Doley said that interested workers will be given job cards within a week after they make an appeal to the concerned department, said Doley. The Minister also said that jobs will also be allotted to workers who are interested and wages will be paid within 15 days.

He also said that the job card verification will be done "soon", adding that fifty-one lakh job cards have been registered in Assam, and twenty-eight lakh cards are active at the moment. "Many who posses cards have not utilized those in a year, meaning they are inactive", clarified Doley, adding that migrant workers have been earmarked as the 'priority' under the new initiatives of the Government.

The Minister also announced that the MGNREGA wage has been increased upto Rs two hundred and eighteen per day, and said that the Government is prioritizing employing both migrants who have returned from other stated following the outbreak as well as Assam-based workers. He also said that Assam stands to benefit greatly under the PM's MGNREGA scheme for which Rs forty thousand crore additional budget has been allocated recently.