While Congress has been on the warpath with BJP, understandably so given their political compulsions, the Modi government has made massive strides in providing development for all.
In the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY-U), for example, 45.86 lakh houses were approved in 4 years of the Modi regime. While Congress only managed to approve 13.45 lakh houses in their 10 years rule.
Let’s delve deeper into how BJP managed to come on the top.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana: Journey Begins
The real estate sector is on an upswing in India owing to the demand in residential and commercial spaces. As the economy improves the real estate sector in India is expected to reach a market size of over a trillion dollars, contributing 13% to the total GDP of the nation.
The government of India along with state governments has taken several initiatives to encourage development in the sector such as Smart city project, National Urban Housing Fund and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
India is a country of over a billion people. And, a billion people need a place to stay. All of us aspire to have a place which we can call home. The government is trying to help everyone achieve their dream of a house through a massive initiative called Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisioned housing for all by 2022 when the nation completes 75 years of Independence. In order to achieve this objective, Central Government launched a comprehensive mission “Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Housing for All”. Under this scheme, affordable houses are built across the country using eco- friendly construction for the benefit of the poor population in India.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) has two components Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (urban) (PMAY–U) – for the urban poor and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) (PMAY-G and also PMAY–R) – for the rural poor. This initiative by the government of India will provide 20 million affordable houses by 31st March 2022.
The mission seeks to address the housing requirement of urban poor including slum dwellers through following programme verticals:
- Slum rehabilitation with the participation of private developers using land as a resource.
- Promotion of affordable housing for weaker sections of the society through credit linked subsidy.
- Affordable housing in partnership with public & private sectors.
- Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction /enhancement.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana: Implementation Strategy
The Mission will be implemented through four verticals giving an option to beneficiaries, ULBs and State Governments. These four verticals are as below:
The implementation strategy is 4 pronged with slum redevelopment, affordable housing by giving credit subsidy to low-income groups and economically weaker sections, affordable housing through partnerships with private or public agencies and subsidy for beneficiaries for construction or enhancement.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana: Story So Far
The table below shows state wise progress of PMAY-U since 2014
Above given table indicates the financial and physical progress of PMAY-U (HFA). Maharashtra, Andhra and MP lead the pack in total amount invested whereas Gujarat, MP and Maharashtra have the maximum houses constructed under PMAY-U. A total of 3, 68,076 Cr has been invested and 12, 87,561 houses have been constructed since 2014.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana: Impact Assessment
The completed houses and houses under construction under PMAY-G till March 05 2018 are 23.52 lakh and 21.28 lakh respectively. The total financial support provided to the beneficiaries by the government is Rs 1.47 lakh and Rs 1.59 lakh in plain areas and hilly areas respectively.
The total expenditure on PMAY-G houses is estimated to be Rs. 35,135 crore up to March 05, 2018.
In terms of employment, construction of a PMAY-G house in hilly/IAP district generated 48 person days of skilled labour and 105 person days of unskilled labour. The estimates for the plain areas appeared to be 75 person days and 92 person days of skilled and unskilled labour respectively. For houses under-construction, the total employment generated for both the years turns out to be 4.82 crores for skilled labour and 7.60 crore person days for unskilled labour till March 05, 2018.
Considering the fact that the beneficiary contribution varies both in terms of quantum and beneficiaries’ affordability, an attempt is also made to estimate the impact of PMAYG on direct employment and output under three different scenarios of beneficiary contribution. The first scenario assumes no additional contribution from the beneficiary, the second scenario assumes beneficiary contributes Rs 35000, and finally, the third scenario assumes that beneficiary contributes Rs. 70,000. The direct employment generated in case of the unskilled category under three scenarios varies from 20.36 core person-days under the first scenario to 25.10 crore person-days under the second scenario and 29.84 crores under the third scenario. Similarly, the estimated numbers for skilled labour force are 14.50 core, 17.90 crores, and 21.30 crore respectively.
In a nutshell, the current analysis reveals that the PMAY-G housing scheme would have had a substantial impact on employment and income generation in the economy.
Housing for All: BJP v Congress
The BJP-led NDA government has approved construction of 45.86 lakh houses in urban areas since it came to power in 2014, recording an increase of around 240 per cent as compared to that sanctioned in the UPA government’s 10-year tenure, as per official data.
According to the housing and urban affairs ministry data said around 13.45 lakh houses were approved during the UPA I and II under two schemes – Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY).
As per data, since the NDA government came to power in 2014, 45.86 lakh houses have been sanctioned under this flagship programme — Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban). Under the PMAY (U), the government aims to construct around 1.2 crore houses for urban poor by 2022.
The central assistance approved by the UPA government was to the tune of Rs 20,303 crore for construction of 13.45 lakh houses for the poor, while the NDA government has approved Rs 70,716 crore for construction of sanctioned 45.86 lakh houses so far, according to the data.
Construction of 8.04 lakh houses was completed in the UPA’s regime, while as many as 7.25 lakh houses, including the houses left under the JNNURM and RAY, were constructed since the NDA government came to power in 2014.
The UPA government during its 10-year rule released Rs 17,989 crore for construction of houses, while the NDA government has released Rs 25,264 crore for construction of houses for urban poor.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana: Road Ahead
India needs investment to the tune of $4 trillion over the next 5-6 years to fulfil the government’s various schemes. The ‘Housing for All by 2022’ initiative alone is likely to bring $1.3 trillion investments into the residential sector by 2025.
While the potential for directing privately owned land towards affordable housing at a low cost is limited, appropriate PPP structures can be used to incentivize the private sector in that direction.
Strategies attempted include directing private land for affordable housing in exchange for permission for more intensive utilization of land or in exchange for permission to build high-end housing. PPP strategies including government grants and subsidies can also be potentially deployed to unlock unutilized/ underutilized parcels of both governments as well as privately owned lands for affordable housing.
In order to facilitate private sector participation and to meet the growing need of affordable housing in the country, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs had set up a ‘Committee on PPP in Affordable Housing Sector’. It is envisaged that a sizeable and sustainable response through strategic PPP models will allow a self-propelled market to address the challenge of land availability and its high cost.
In addition, private sector participation will also enhance access to financing and capital markets, as well as reduce costs through gains in construction, operations and time-bound delivery of dwelling units. The underutilized potential of directing privately owned land towards affordable housing would also give a fillip to the existing verticals of PMAY (Urban).
The difference in the amount of funds sanctioned, houses constructed and beneficiaries reached out to is not a mere coincidence. There was a massive difference in the approach adopted by the UPA (over 2 tenures) and the BJP government in less than 5 years.
Key differentiators
- Multiple regulations were passed that relaxed rules related to the requirement of documents, land title clearances and eligibility of beneficiaries. This helped substantially fast-track the process of applying to PMAY scheme
- Periodic Review- The BJP government leveraged the advent of technology to ensure weekly/bi-weekly reviews are conducted with all stakeholders on VC to ensure any queries/bottlenecks are cleared immediately
- Appointment of Professional consultants- The government encouraged state governments to empanel consultants and professional vendors to ensure the scheme is implemented at a breakneck pace
- Public reach and advertisements- the government carefully analyzed that lack of awareness among beneficiaries is a significant constraint in the rollout of this scheme and thus advocated the use of media, awareness camps, hoardings, door-to-door campaigns etc. to ensure beneficiaries are well aware and informed about this marquee policy
