Assam Government moves Centre for fresh geo-tagging

 STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Assam Government was supposed to submit the list of eligible beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) with geo-tagging to the Central Government in the first half of 2019. However, due to the Lok Sabha election, the Assam Government submitted some names of eligible beneficiaries without geo-tagging. As a result, the Centre did not sanction houses for around 1.5 lakh-2 lakh beneficiaries whose names were submitted without geo-tagging.

The Assam Government has now urged the Centre to either sanction houses for these beneficiaries without geo-tagging or to give Assam an opportunity to submit the names of these eligible beneficiaries again with geo-tagging.

Geo-tagging is a process of assigning a ‘geo-tag’ or adding some ‘geographical information’ in various ‘media’ forms such as a digital photograph, video or even in a SMS message. The key objective of geo-tagging is to track progress of construction of individual houses through geo-tagged photographs, under the Beneficiary-led Individual House Construction component of the PMAY-G.

Talking to The Sentinel, State Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Ranjeet Kumar Dass said, “Assam has made significant progress in implementation of PMAY-G under the new government led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. We have set a target of completing a total of 19 lakh houses within March 2024. It has been seen that houses of around 1.5 lakh-2 lakh beneficiaries were not sanctioned by the Centre because their names were sent without geo-tagging. The Assam Government has now urged the Centre to either sanction houses for these beneficiaries without geo-tagging or to give Assam an opportunity to submit the names of these eligible beneficiaries again with geo-tagging so that these poor people can own a house of their own.”

Meanwhile, Assam is on its way to reach a milestone in construction of houses under PMAY-G. Out of the 19 lakh houses, Assam will soon complete construction of 10 lakh houses. Till date, 9,90,762 houses have been constructed. Out of these, a total of 5,86,454 houses were completed in the last 23 months. The remaining sanctioned houses are under construction.

PMAY-Gramin aims to build houses for all families without homes or those living in kutcha or dilapidated houses in rural areas in India. Under this scheme, each beneficiary gets Rs 1,30,000 for construction of a house. The money is deposited directly into the bank account of the beneficiary in three installments.

Also Read:  Assam Government sets PMAY-G target by March 2024

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