Shivraj-Singh Chouhan announces 5 lakh pucca houses for poor families in Odisha under PMAY-Gramin
Balangir, November 14
Union Minister for Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan today announced five lakh pucca houses for poor families in Odisha under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin. Mr Chouhan announced this while addressing a state-level program of the scheme in Balangir in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.
The Union Minister said that a fresh and proper survey had now been completed and no poor family would be left living in a kutcha house. He said, all eligible families would receive pucca houses in a phased manner. He also announced that the Centre and the state government would jointly provide subsidies for installing solar panels on houses. He said, this would help beneficiaries bring their electricity bills down to zero and earn additional income by selling surplus electricity.
Mr Chouhan appreciated Odisha for achieving the target of 27 lakh Lakhpati Didis a year ahead of schedule, with 29 lakh women now having attained this status. Mr Chouhan said that over the next five years, loans worth 10 lakh crore rupees would be extended through banks to women across the country to help more women become Lakhpati Didis. He added that access to credit would no longer be limited to members of self-help groups. He added that women who wish to start their own businesses or livelihood activities individually would also be able to obtain loans without the requirement of a guarantee.
Outlining the government’s plans for rural development, Mr Chouhan said Odisha would receive approximately four thousand crore rupees this year under the Viksit Bharat-G RAM G scheme. This would provide every panchayat with 25 lakh to 50 lakh rupees annually. He said, over five years, smaller panchayats would receive up to one crore rupees e and larger panchayats up to two crore rupees for development works.
Mr Chouhan who is also the Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister assured that the new agriculture college in Balangir would be developed into the country’s finest agricultural institution.BM