(a) whether any effective system has been established by the Ministry to ensure better design and quality of houses to be constructed under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY);
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the steps taken by the Government for capacity building of workers engaged in construction sector; and
(d) the steps taken by the Government to speed up the works to meet the target of construction of the houses?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)
(a) & (b) The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G) is being implemented from 1st April, 2016 across the country with the target of construction of 2.95 crore houses by the year 2022. The following mechanism is in place under PMAY-G to ensure better design and quality of the houses:
i. The beneficiaries are being assisted in house construction with a bouquet of house design typologies inclusive of disaster resilient features that are suitable to their local geo-climatic conditions, cultural preferences and availability of construction materials.
ii. The Ministry with the help of IIT-Delhi, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and CSIR- Central Building Research Institute (CSIR-CBRI) undertook state-specific studies in 18 states for the development of house design typologies appropriate to local geo-climatic and cultural context with disaster-resilient features. As an outcome of the study, Ministry published a compendium of region-specific house designs with the name ‘Pahal’ which includes 108 house designs for 62 housing zones in 15 states for the use of the beneficiaries.
iii. The geotagged and time tagged photographs of the houses at different stages of construction have been linked with the release of subsequent instalments of financial assistance leading to evidence-based monitoring. The captured photographs are further being used for reviewing the construction quality/completion of the houses under PMAY-G.
iv. For quality construction of the houses, the States/UTs have been asked to take necessary steps to ensure the sustained availability of good quality construction materials. Further, building materials manufacturers and suppliers’ associations have been asked to ensure supply of construction materials for use in the house construction under PMAY(G).
(c) The steps taken for the capacity building of labour/workers engaged in construction are as follows:
i. The Ministry has launched the Rural Mason Training (RMT) program under PMAY—G in partnership with the Construction Skill Development Council of India (CSDCI) and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).
ii. Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) along with the bridge training activities has also been initiated to ensure certification, career progression and improvement in wages/income and standards of the rural masons.
iii. Presently training is being imparted on the Rural Mason Qualification Pack (QP) which is placed at National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF).
iv. The Rural Mason Training (RMT) has been included in the Performance Index Dashboard of PMAY-G to pay more attention to training of rural mason.
(d) The following steps have been taken by the Ministry to expedite work for achievement of the said targets:
i. As per Framework for Implementation (FFI) of PMAY-G, the construction of houses should be completed within 12 months from the date of sanction.
ii. Timely release of funds to the States/UTs.
iii. Timely Allocation & targets to the States/UTs.
iv. Following up with the States to ensure provision of land to the landless beneficiaries for the house construction.
v. Timely review of sanction of houses to the beneficiaries to ensure sanction of the targeted houses.
vi. Extra Focus on completion of those houses where 3rd or 2nd installment of funds has been released. Special focus on completion of delayed houses.
vii. Issuance of the guidelines to the States/UTs for dealing with the cases of unwilling beneficiaries, death cases and migrant beneficiaries.
viii. Cleaning of the Permanent Wait List (PWL) by removing ineligible/ unwilling beneficiaries from the PWL.
ix. Regular review of progress at the level of Secretary/Additional Secretary/Deputy DG, Ministry of Rural Development and separate review of States/UTs with high target, poor performing States/UTs and delayed houses in States/UTs
x. Expeditious resolution of technical issues, if any, faced by the States/UTs.
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