GS Paper 2
Syllabus: Government policies and intervention/ Science and technology
Source: TH
Context: The Interim Budget 2024 announced the construction of two crore additional houses under PMAY-G and a new housing scheme for the middle class, advancing the ‘Housing for All’ initiative. While commendable, there’s a pressing need to address environmental concerns amidst the rapid housing expansion.
About PM Awas Yojana
It is a housing scheme launched by the government of India to provide affordable housing for all by 2024. Earlier, the aim was to provide houses by March 2022. The scheme has two variants, PMAY –Gramin and PMAY – Urban
| Aspect | PMAY-G | PMAY-U |
| Launch Date | April 1, 2016 | June 25, 2015 |
| Ministry Involved | Ministry of Rural Development | Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs |
| Aim | Provide pucca houses with basic amenities to rural families | Provide housing for all in urban areas by 2024 |
| Beneficiaries | SCs/STs, freed bonded labourers, widows, disabled persons, minorities | Urban poor, including slum dwellers |
| Selection of Beneficiaries | Through Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011, Gram Sabha, and geo-tagging (subject to 13-point exclusion criteria, followed by Gram Sabha verification) | Based on eligibility criteria set by the Ministry |
| Cost Sharing | Central and State Governments share costs (60:40 in plain areas, 90:10 in North Eastern and hilly states) | Central assistance and state contributions |
| Features | Assistance for construction of dwelling units and upgradation of kutcha houses | Addresses urban housing shortage among the urban poor |
| Full grant assistance for eligible beneficiaries | Promotes women empowerment by providing ownership to females | |
| Divided into Four Verticals | N/A | In-situ rehabilitation of existing slum dwellers |
| -Credit Linked Subsidy | ||
| Affordable Housing in Partnership | ||
| Beneficiary-led individual house construction/enhancement |
Sustainability Concerns with the housing:
| Concerns | Details |
| Construction Technologies | Extensive use of cement and steel without proper insulation causes thermal distress. |
| Inadequate insulation leads to increased use of cooling appliances, elevating greenhouse gas emissions. | |
| Locational Factors | Master plans are required for affordable housing, but many census towns lack them, leading to poor location choices and transport deficits. |
| E.g., Newly created housing in Delhi by DDA faces low demand due to location and lack of public transport. | |
| Policies issues | Under PMAY-U, states and cities offer increased floor area ratio (FAR), floor space index (FSI), or transferable development rights (TDR) for slum and low-cost housing, promoting dense, high-rise developments. |
| Taller buildings increase emissions per unit area, despite improving land use efficiency. | |
| Policies lack provisions for rainwater harvesting and decentralised waste management, impacting sustainability. | |
| Inefficient Beneficiary-Led Construction | Self-constructed projects lack adherence to building norms and safety codes, hindering sustainability efforts. |
Government Initiatives:
- Light House Projects (LHPs): Under PMAY, LHPs are part of the Global Housing Technology Challenge (GHTC), aimed at reducing construction time and building resilient, affordable houses.
- Global Housing Technology Challenge-India (GHTC-India): Introduced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to mainstream sustainable, eco-friendly, and disaster-resilient housing technologies.
- Mivan Construction Technology: Utilizes advanced aluminium formwork for casting building elements, reducing construction time, and environmental impact.
- Insulating Concrete Formwork (ICF) Technique: Uses double-walled polystyrene panels filled with concrete for strong, durable, and well-insulated structures, offering thermal and sound insulation.
- Hybrid Concrete Construction: Combines cast-in-place concrete with precast materials like steel or concrete units, accelerating construction, reducing costs, and maintaining quality.
Way forward:
- Reinforcing Building Codes: Mandate adoption of passive design aspects in building codes and guidelines.
- Implement initiatives like Eco Niwas Samhita for indoor thermal comfort.
- Promoting Green Buildings: Increase adoption of ‘Green Buildings’ to reduce energy consumption and emissions.
- Decentralised Location-Tailored Projects: Conduct socio-economic surveys to understand housing needs.
- Promote mixed-income housing in suitable locations with basic amenities nearby.
- Design building envelopes and shading devices to minimize heat gain or loss.
Other limitations of PM Awas Yojana:
- Covid pandemic: the pandemic has slowed down the timely construction of houses and therefore the government was forced to extend the deadline from 2022 to March 2024. In rural areas, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana has a completion rate of just around 67%
- Poor implementation by state: Six States account for 70% of the target units — West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Bihar has one of the lowest completion rates at less than 60%
- Lack of clear land titles and documents: In both rural and urban areas, issues such as a lack of clear titles and other land documents tend to crop up. This further slowed down the pace of the construction of houses.
- Withholding of funds by the Centre: Recently, the Centre withheld funds for the scheme in two Opposition-ruled States — West Bengal and Many times states like Chhattisgarh have defaulted on payment because of a lack of funds.
- Credit linked limit: According to the PMAY Credit Linked guidelines the interest subsidy of 6.5% will be given to the people who fall under backward classes or economically weaker groups. However, the subsidy is not for all the people living under these groups.
- Tenure limit: As the yojana says the applicant will get a tenure of 15 years to repay the loan. But the time will be granted only if the loan amount is 6 lakhs or less. If the loan amount is more than 6 lakhs then the tenure will be less than 15 years.
Conclusion
The government has done a commendable job by converging the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana with other schemes that provide electricity, toilets and LPG gas connections. The implementation of PMAY has remained largely transparent and the progress has been satisfactory. However, the government should also take care of the environmental sustainability aspect of construction and align its policies to reduce heat/Cold stress on the beneficiaries
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