J & K approves Rs. 2 lakh interest-free loan under PMAY-U

The Jammu & Kashmir Administrative Council has given approval for the proposal of the Housing and Urban development department to provide interest-free loans up to Rs 2 lakh. The approval was given under the leadership of Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha.

Key points

After the approval has been given, the interest-free loans up to Rs. 2 lakhs will be given to the urban houseless and economically weaker section beneficiaries. The loans will be given under the Construction- BLC component of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban (PMAY-U) scheme.  The interest-free loans will be provided for a period of 10 years. It also comprises of a moratorium of six months. The loan amount is repayable by a monthly instalment of Rs. 2,500. This approval is in line with the aim of central government to provide affordable housing to economically weaker sections in the country.

Significance of the move

The interest-free loan given by the government will provide an additional benefit to the beneficiaries. In total, the benefits will be over and above the financial assistance of Rs. 1.66 lakh which has been already provided to beneficiaries of PMAY-U. With this approval, the beneficiaries of the scheme can now avail Rs. 3.66 lakh to construct their dwelling units.

BLC Component of the scheme

Under the Beneficiary-Led Individual House Construction (BLC) component, the PMAY-U scheme currently benefits 41,992 beneficiaries. However, such beneficiaries in the Jammu & Kashmir have been experiencing difficulty to mobilize their contribution because they belong to the economically weaker sections. Further, they contribute for a higher share when compared to the shares of other states and UTs. As a result, the construction of dwelling units of BLC component of the scheme has not yet achieve the desired target. Following this, the beneficiaries demanded to enhance the assistance given to them so that they could complete the construction of houses in specified time. Thus, the state government given its approval to provide interest-free loans to all the beneficiaries.

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2021