2 cr houses to be built under PMAY in 3 years: Prez

Nearly two crore houses will be built in the villages under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in the next three years, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Thursday.

Addressing the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament, the President said women are being given priority in the registration of houses being built under the PMAY in the rural areas.

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana has two parts PMAY (Gramin) and PMAY (Urban). Under the mission, the government aims to ensure 'Housing for All'.

"Under this scheme, nearly two crore new houses will be built in the villages during the next three years," Kovind said.

In his speech, he also stressed on the urban transport infrastructure to cater to present and future requirements.

While developing infrastructure, attention is also being given to address the challenges posed by pollution, he said.

On the issue of the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), the President said, "The facility of 'One Nation, One Card' has been launched to realize the dream of seamless mobility."

In March this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the indigenously-developed NCMC to enable people to pay multiple kinds of transport charges, including metro services and toll tax, across the country.

Dubbed as 'One Nation One Card', the inter-operable transport card would allow the holders to pay for their bus travel, toll taxes, parking charges, retail shopping and even withdraw money.

The President said the government was developing a transport system, which is not only fast and safe but also environment-friendly.

"For this, special emphasis is given to public transport. The metro rail network is being expanded rapidly in several cities," he said.