Karnataka misses target to build homes for urban poor under housing schemes

According to the report, 41% of the houses the audit team visited were high-cost multi-storey buildings with a carpet area of more than 30 sq m

Under the four schemes for the urban poor, Karnataka completed only 17 per cent of the targeted 5.17 lakh houses by March 2021, and the identification of beneficiaries was fraught with exclusion. This was highlighted in a performance audit on the implementation of housing schemes for the urban poor in Karnataka conducted between 2015-16 and 2020-21.

Karnataka Affordable Housing Policy-2016 projected 20.35 lakh people who need affordable housing, but only 13.72 lakh prospective beneficiaries were identified in the survey. Out of that, only 5.17 lakh (38 per cent) houses were approved, and only 88,395 houses were completed by March 2021, says the report.

“The demand survey was not completed within the prescribed cut-off date and around 49 per cent of the beneficiaries were added to the survey list subsequently affecting strategic planning, setting of annual targets and allocation of resources,” adds the report.

Ineligible beneficiaries

Only 3.43 lakh out of 5.17 lakh beneficiaries were attached to the approved Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP) and Beneficiary Led individual house Construction (BLC) after validation, which resulted in beneficiaries drawing multiple benefits under the same or different verticals.

An analysis of test-checked AHP projects revealed that only 12 per cent of the beneficiaries who were part of the approved Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) were extended benefits, and 44 per cent of the actual beneficiaries were not even part of the prospective beneficiary list derived from the demand survey.

This resulted in the extension of scheme benefits to ineligible beneficiaries such as those with annual income above Rs 3 lakh and those already having pucca houses.

According to the report, 41 per cent of the houses the audit team visited were high-cost multi-storey buildings with a carpet area of more than 30 sq m and cost a lot more than Rs 5 lakh prescribed under the scheme.

Double payments

The primary control for Direct Benefit Transfer payments, i.e., validation through unique identification (Aadhaar), was not carried out for payments amounting to Rs 172.64 crore made to 12,757 out of 62,648 BLC beneficiaries. Audit analysis revealed double payments amounting to Rs 1.30 crore in 111 cases due to this.

Lapses in mandatory monitoring of payments made under the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) vertical by the State Level Nodal Agency (SLNA) resulted in 471 beneficiaries, who had already availed assistance under CLSS, receiving benefits again under BLC and AHP verticals.

The monitoring of construction of houses by BLC beneficiaries through geo-tagging was carried out through the Indira Mane application, instead of the mandated Bhuvan application, which necessitated duplication of the process at an extra expenditure of Rs 79 lakh.

The geo-tagging of AHP projects taken up by the Karnataka Slum Development Board (KSDB) failed to meet the required technical specifications. Consequently, the geo-tagging process could not be completed for the houses taken up under the AHP vertical.

State's lapse leads to fund crunch

There was a shortage of financial resources under AHP vertical, as Government of India withheld an amount of Rs 1,003.55 crore due to non-fulfilment of prescribed conditions by the state government. Other reasons for shortage of funds were short collection of beneficiary contribution and Urban Local Bodies (ULB) share to the tune of Rs 8,360.78 crore.

This resulted in the cancellation of AHP projects and the non-provision of civic infrastructure for completed houses envisioned under the scheme.

The objective of the scheme to provide group housing with infrastructural facilities under the AHP vertical was not accomplished as only 14 per cent of the houses taken up by KSDB under AHP were constructed as group houses and the rest were taken up individually in a scattered manner.

The audit report says that these projects were undertaken without provision for basic civic infrastructure such as water supply, underground drainage, roads, electricity etc. prescribed under scheme guidelines.

The union government withheld the release of the first instalment under BLC projects amounting to Rs 569.56 crore due to a shortfall in the attachment of beneficiaries to the projects, says the report.

Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation Ltd functioned as the SLNA for PMAY(U) in the state and the projects under the scheme were implemented through KSDB and the ULB.