It's been a sluggish start for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious project - ‘Housing for All’ - launched a year ago with much fanfare.
While some states have started working on it, about 20 have failed to come up with proper planning for the housing mission.
The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Housing for All by 2022, was launched by the government in June 2015 with the aim of promoting affordable housing for people from the economically weaker sections, and also for the rehabilitation of slum dwellers with the help of private developers.
So far, only a few states have come out with detailed plans on executing the scheme in their cities -and accordingly the Centre has released the funds.
A senior government official said money has not been released for over 20 states as they have not come forward with the necessary planning details for their respective projects.
States like Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Kerala and many other smaller states have still not got the funds.
Meanwhile, projects for Maharashtra, Haryana, and Punjab have got approval from the Centre.
“Funds have been released for 14 states including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttrakhand, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh and few others. About Rs 1600 crore have been released for these states after approval of their projects,” said a senior official of the ministry of housing.
According to officials, Andhra Pradesh has shown the most interest and has got approval for the biggest number of projects in various areas of the state.
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