Excelsior Correspondent
Jammu, Jan 17: Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh today informed the Upper House that Government has approached the Centre to seek inclusion of all cities and towns of Jammu and Kashmir under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY).
“State Government has requested centre to consider approval for conducting the demand survey of all the remaining 55 cities/towns instead of 35 cities/towns of the State for inclusion under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) to address the housing demand in all urban areas” DyCM told the Upper House .
Replying to a question of Ali Mohammad Dar, the Deputy Chief Minister informed that initially 25 cities/towns were selected for PMAY in phase-Ist 2015-17. He said housing demand survey was conducted according to the guidelines and formats prescribed by Union Ministry of Housing and Poverty Alleviation in these selected cities/towns through Comtech Institute of Technology . He also said that the Central Government was approached for granting approval to take up housing demand survey of 35 towns in Phase -IInd-2017-19 so that the housing demand is addressed in all the urban area of the state before the Mission period of 2022.
Dr Nirmal Singh informed that funds to the tune of Rs 1.34 crore for creation of capital assets under PMAY Housing for All (Urban) mission has been released as grant-in-aid as first installment of Central assistance for two projects viz Baramulla and Udhampur covering 224 EWS units for its utilization during current financial year. He said the DPR in case of selected towns in Phase-Ist for 37 new projects with 4915 EWS beneficiaries of 24 towns (Except Jammu city) have been prepared and are under appraisal.
The Deputy Chief Minister said that J&K Housing Board is designated as nodal agency for implementation of the PMAY Housing for All Mission in the state. He said no need is felt for constituting a separate Mission Directorate for implementation of PMAY.