Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said around 30 million poor families across the country have become ‘ lakhpati’ by getting houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
He also said more than 80 per cent of the houses under the Yojana are owned by women or are joint owners.
‘Since 2014, the government has approved the construction of more than 1 crore 13 lakh houses in cities under PM Awas Yojana and out of this, more than 50 lakh houses have been built and handed over to the poor,’ he said after inaugurating the three-day ‘Azadi 75 – New Urban India: Transforming Urban Landscape’ Conference-cum-Expo here.
“I am also happy that out of the houses being given under PM Awas Yojana in the country, more than 80 per cent are owned by women or they are joint owners,” the Prime Minister said.
He said during his tenure, around 30 million poor families have become ‘lakhpati’ by getting houses under the Yojana. ‘You can guess the cost of the houses. But the opposition would again target me for this achievement.’
Without naming the Samajwadi Party, the Prime Minister said, ‘Before 2017, the Centre had sanctioned Rs 18,000 crore houses under the Yojana in the state, but the then state government did not even construct 18 houses.
‘But the present UP government did a commendable job by constructing nine lakh houses and another 14 lakhs are under construction,” he said while saying that people should know who had worked for the people.
He claimed before 2017 in UP, electricity was there, where politicians went and roads were constructed only on the recommendations of the ruling government politicians. ‘But now things have changed and now every family is getting everything.’
“During Deepawali this year, Ayodhya will light 7.50 lakh diyas but it is my wish that along with Ayodhya, all the 9 lakh PM Awas beneficiaries in the state should also light at least 2 diyas at their doorstep during the festival,” he said.
Modi said UP is the land of Lord Ram, Krishna and Buddha and it is the commitment of the BJP government to develop it as a desired by the people.
“Our government has made a very serious effort to overcome the problems and challenges of the urban middle class,” he asserted.
He also asked UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath to speed up the construction work of the projects whose foundation were laid today.
Narrating in detail about the achievement of his government in providing urban facilities, the Prime Minister said under PM Svanidhi Yojana, street vendors are being linked with banks.
“Through this scheme, help of more than Rs 2500 crore has been given to more than 25 lakh people. In this too, more than seven lakh people of UP have taken advantage of Svanidhi Yojana,” he added.
Modi said that setting up of Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Act has been such a big step in protecting the rights of the house buyers. “This law has helped in getting the entire housing sector out of mistrust and fraud.
Talking about the LED lights, he said urban bodies are saving about Rs 1,000 crore every year by installing LED street lights and now this amount is being used for other development works.
LED lighting has also greatly reduced the electricity bill of the people living in the city, he said.
Modi said technology has brought a big change in the urban sector in India in the last 6-7 years.
“Technology is the basis of the Integrated Command and Control Centers running in more than 70 cities of the country today and now every city is equipped with CCTV cameras which has reduced the crime rate.’
He said Metro services are expanding rapidly to major cities across the country. In 2014, the metro used to run on less than 250 km route, while now the metro is being run on about 750 km. Besides work is taking place on more than 1000 km of metro tracks in the country, the Primr Minister said.
Modi also inaugurated the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Chair at the Baba Sahab Bhimrao Ambedkar University here. “Lucknow has given a visionary in the form of Atal ji to the nation.”