Assam women SHG members to help geo-tag beneficiaries for PMAY-G houses, says Himanta

The Assam CM clarified that geo-tagging will not be done initially by the Panchayat and Rural Development Department.

Guwahati: The Assam government will involve women from self-help groups (SHG) for geo-tagging beneficiaries for allotment of houses under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday.

"Assam will be the first state in the country to involve ‘Jeevika Sakhis’ in geo-tagging the locations of ‘kutcha’ houses. The data will then be uploaded for proper screening, ensuring that houses are allotted to the rightful beneficiaries," Sarma said at a press conference.

The CM clarified that geo-tagging will not be done initially by the Panchayat and Rural Development Department. Instead, Jeevika Sakhis from neighbouring villages — rather than the same village — will be responsible for the process, he added.

Additionally, individuals can self-geo-tag their homes by taking a photograph, adding their address, and submitting it for final verification by an employee from the Panchayat and Rural Development Department, he added.

"The preliminary survey will be conducted by 'Jeevika Sakhis' under the Assam State Rural Livelihood Mission (ASRLM) and uploaded on the Anwesha portal. This will help identify households that were left out in previous surveys," the CM added.

Eligible beneficiaries under PMAY-G will include all homeless persons and households living in zero, one and two rooms with kutcha wall and kutcha/CGI sheets roof while people living in houses with more than two rooms excluding kitchens, among other criterion, will be excluded from the list of beneficiaries, Sarma said.

In tea garden areas, all eligible beneficiaries will receive PMAY-G houses within the tea estates, regardless of their economic association with the tea garden authorities. This includes workers who have already been provided pucca quarters by garden management.

A gram sabha will be held in each village to sensitise potential beneficiaries about the survey. From March 17, Jeevika Sakhis will visit households to identify and verify potential beneficiaries, collect details in accordance with a provided questionnaire and upload the data along with a photograph of the potential beneficiary.

After the field survey, a second gram sabha will be held where the gaon panchayat secretary will present an initial list of identified beneficiaries. The list will then be approved by the gram sabha and then displayed at the block development office and gram panchayats for community objections or claims.

After the objection period, the legislative assembly constituency-level committee will review and validate the beneficiaries and finally the district-level committee will accord approval to potential beneficiaries and upload it on the AWAS+ app.

Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, during a recent visit to Assam, announced that 7.6 lakh people in the state will benefit under PMAY-G and the first instalment will start from March 19 at Palasbari in Kamrup town.

People from areas under the Rabha Hasong Council will get allotment of houses after council polls are over in these areas, the CM said.

The process of allotment of houses to the remaining 3,80,000 will begin from April and the process is expected to be completed by May, he added.

Overall, 30 lakh people in Assam require housing under PMAY-G.

"So far, 22 lakh people have either already benefited or have houses under construction," Sarma added. Referring to the Chief Minister's Mahila Udyamita Scheme, Sarma said the first instalment of Rs 10,000 will be handed over to 23,000 women at Behali in April and every month the list of beneficiaries will be announced after selected women complete their three-month training.

''This is one of the biggest empowerment scheme for women in the state after Orunodoi. We have decided to give individual loans to women in SHGs with Rs 10,000 in the first year, 25,000 in the second, which will include Rs 12,500 from the government and the balance as bank loan, and Rs 50,000 in the third year with the total amounting to Rs 85,000'', the CM said.