Mobile app for home buyers to avail subsidy under PMAY

People wanting to avail subsidy under PMAY (Urban) will soon be able to apply through their smartphones with Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri launching an app on Thursday for beneficiaries of the scheme to prepare a digital database. The Union housing and urban affairs minister said the mobile application will allow existing beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Urban) to capture and upload photos and videos of completed houses with testimonies.

Asked if the ministry also has plans to allow an applicant to apply for subsidy under PMAY (U) through this app, Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said, "We will also make that provision (in the app)." The PMAY (U), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2015, aims to ensure 'Housing for all by 2022' by providing financial assistance to beneficiaries.

The government has set a target of one crore houses to be constructed in urban areas across the country under the scheme over a period of seven years from 2015 to 2022. According to the ministry, over 73 lakh houses have already been sanctioned.

Around 40 lakh houses are at various stages of construction, while more than 15 lakh houses have already been completed. Also, 12 lakh houses are being constructed using new and emerging technologies.

"I hope that in the first quarter of 2020, we would sanction one crore houses. And, the number of 40 lakh houses being grounded would reach 75 lakh," Puri told reporters. Giving details about the app, secretary Mishra said the photos and videos uploaded by beneficiaries will be scrutinised at state as well as at the central level. The selected beneficiaries from states and Union territories would be awarded and invited as special guests for anniversary celebrations of the scheme.

(With inputs from agencies.)