Jharkhand CM announces 20 L houses for rural poor

Launches Abua Awas Yojana for Khunti, Simdega

Ranchi, January 23: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday announced that his government would provide 20 lakh houses to the poor of the state by 2027.

Addressing the beneficiaries of ‘Abua Awas Yojana’ (AAY), a state government-sponsored housing scheme, at Torpa in Khunti district, Soren said that the JMM-led dispensation had demanded eight lakh houses for the poor from the Centre as it had promised to provide accommodations to all the poor.

“Initially, the Centre had accepted that Jharkhand has four lakh poor people. But later, it stated that no poor was left for the central housing scheme in the state. So, we decided to provide houses to eight lakh poor people from the state exchequer,” the chief minister said.

Soren said the state government has launched the ‘Abua Awas Yojana’ (My House) and sought applications for the scheme during the ‘Apki Yojana, Apki Sarkar, Apke Dwar’ (Your scheme, your government at your doorstep) campaign.

Terming it as a “historic” one, he said that the scheme was a first-of-its-kind initiative after the formation of Jharkhand in 2000.

“We received more than 30 lakh applications for the scheme. Of the total, 20 lakh are estimated to be genuine beneficiaries. So, the government has decided to provide houses to all 20 lakh beneficiaries by 2027,” the CM said.

During the programme, Soren also distributed approval letters and the first instalment for the housing scheme to more than 8,000 beneficiaries from Khunti and Simdega districts and said that beneficiaries can now see construction of their new houses soon.

The CM claimed that the Centre used to give Rs 1.20 lakh for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

“We have decided to provide Rs 2 lakh for the construction of a three-room house, which will be better than the PMAY scheme,” he said.

Soren also said that the state has decided to provide pension to women, Dalits and tribals after they age 50 years which is the first of its kind in the country.