The NDA government’s ambitious program to build houses for the urban poor under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) has failed to find takers in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.

Over a year after it was launched, UP and Delhi are among the handful of states that have failed to send a single proposal to the Union housing and urban poverty alleviation ministry. It’s only after a state sends a proposal that the Centre approves it and releases its share.

Under PMAY, the housing ministry will provide financial assistance to the tune of over Rs 2 lakh crore over the next five years for enabling two crore urban poor own houses by 2022.

According to a 2012 government report, India has an estimated housing shortage of 18.78 million - of which UP accounts for 3.07 million or 16% of the total shortage. Approximately 95% of the total shortage is in the economically weaker section and low-income group category.

Sources said that the housing ministry has in the last one year written 14 letters to the UP government -including four times when urban development and housing minister M Venkaiah Naidu wrote to UP CM Akhilesh Yadav - requesting the state to send proposals under PMAY.

“Besides writing four times to Akhilesh Yadav, Mr Naidu also invited him for a discussion to find out the reason behind the delay. But there has been no response so far,” a senior ministry official said.

The issue may come handy for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the forthcoming assembly election in the state.

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