Centre clears 3.73 lakh additional homes for PMAY-G beneficiaries

Guwahati, May 17: In a big push for rural development in Assam, the Centre on Saturday announced the sanctioning of 3.73 lakh more houses for the state under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G).

The announcement was made by Union Minister for Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Rural Development, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, during a virtual ‘Grihapravesh’ ceremony held in Guwahati to mark the completion of 55,000 houses under the same scheme.

Speaking at the event, Chouhan said the government is committed to improving rural infrastructure and ensuring better living conditions for poor and underprivileged families.

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and other leaders with a beneficiary of the PMAY-G scheme on Saturday (Photo: @himantabiswa/ X)

He also appreciated Assam’s achievement of completing 20 lakh houses under PMAY-G, describing it as a remarkable milestone.

Addressing a public gathering, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the Centre had approved the construction of 3 lakh houses under PMAY-G in January.

With the Union Minister now sanctioning an additional 3.73 lakh homes, nearly all identified beneficiaries in Assam are now covered under the scheme.

“When the Union Minister visited Guwahati in January, around 6 lakh PMAY-G houses were pending. He approved 3 lakh then, and with today’s sanction of another 3.73 lakh, we are ensuring that no beneficiary is left behind,” Sarma said.

As of March, approximately 26 lakh beneficiaries had been enrolled under PMAY-G in Assam, with 20 lakh houses already completed. “If you calculate today’s sanction in monetary terms—at Rs 1.5 lakh per house—it amounts to an estimated Rs 6,000 crore,” the Chief Minister added.

The Chief Minister said the state government will add more names to the PMAY-G beneficiary list, and that Union Minister Chouhan has assured him of sanctioning funds for them as well.

The Chief Minister also noted that geotagging—a mandatory step to receive PMAY benefits—has already begun.

Local women and Jeevika Sakhis from self-help groups have been voluntarily conducting geotagging free of charge, Sarma said. However, he added that in case anyone is left out, beneficiaries can now geotag their own houses to access the scheme’s benefits.

Geotagging is the process of adding geographic coordinates to media like photos, videos, and websites. Geotags can also include time stamps and other contextual information.

Paddy procurement

In a separate announcement on rural development, the Chief Minister pledged 100 per cent procurement of paddy from farmers before June 30.

“For years, we couldn’t meet our procurement targets. This time, we’re on course to procure the full 5.85 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, of which 4.97 lakh MT has already been procured,” he said, adding “This will greatly strengthen Assam’s rural economy.”

This renewed procurement push follows a March announcement where the government committed to paying farmers a bonus above the Minimum Support Price (MSP)—Rs 250 per quintal of rice and Rs 500 per quintal of mustard.

Effective April 1, rice farmers will now receive Rs 2,550 per quintal, while mustard farmers will earn Rs 6,450 per quintal.