CHENNAI: Beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) in Tamil Nadu are expected to receive land in the next two months. The state government has constituted a four member special task force (STF) to expedite identification and distribution of land to beneficiaries of the scheme, according to a senior official in the rural development and panchayat raj department.
“Over the period, the number of landless beneficiaries breached 45,000 in the state,” the official said. The secretary of the Union ministry of rural development, in a letter dated April 9, 2021, pointed out that the delay in provision of land was “one of the major reasons for the slow progress of the PMAY (G) scheme”.
Since the programme was time-bound and implemented with a goal of ‘housing for all by 2022’, the Union ministry had asked the state government to expedite the process of providing land.
Following recommendation from the Union ministry, the state government had formed the STF, said principal secretary of rural development and panchayat raj K Gopal in an order issued on Monday.
He would be the vicechairperson of the task force, while the principal secretary of the revenue and disaster management department would head the task force as its chairperson. Commissioner of land administration and director of rural development and panchayat raj would be member and convener.
On Tuesday, chief minister M K Stalin handed over benefits under welfare schemes to the tune of Rs 1,597 crore, including houses constructed under the PMAY (G), to 12,093 beneficiaries. These schemes were implemented by the rural development and panchayat raj department.
