NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday released financial aid of Rs 2,691 crore to 6.10 lakh beneficiaries in Uttar Pradesh under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G).
The Prime Minister released the amount through video-conferencing during an event attended by Union Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The assistance would include first instalment to 5.30 lakh beneficiaries and second instalment to 80,000 others who have already availed of the first instalment under the PMAY-G.
After releasing the financial assistance, the Prime Minister said the scheme is going to change the fortune of people residing in villages in the coming days.
Launching a scathing attack on the previous Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh before the incumbent Yogi Adityanath's reign, the Prime Minister said the previous SP government had rejected the central government's request when the scheme was launched in 2016 and it led to major difficulties in implementing the scheme in the state.
"Work is being done for the welfare of poor and destitute. Five years ago, I started PMAY from Agra. This scheme has created confidence among poor that they will get their own houses. UP is among those states where PMAY houses are being created," the Prime Minister said.
"There were faults of wrong policies implemented by the previous governments and poor have to face problems. We had set a target to provide a house to every household in 2016 and decided to complete the target in 2022 when the country will celebrate the 75th anniversary of Independence."
Modi said the PMAY-G was launched in 2016 but the scheme faced a lot of problems due to previous government's attitude. "It is the hard work of Yogiji's government that the whole system has changed and lakhs of people have got pucca houses."
Over five lakh families in Uttar Pradesh today have got their first instalment for constructing their own houses under the scheme, the Prime Minister said. (IANS)