PMAY-G 'automatic exclusion' norms relaxed. Details on Centre's rural housing scheme here

In some good news for homebuyers, the Centre recently relaxed the automatic exclusion criteria under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin or PMAY-G. Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday announced the revision in PMAY-G's ineligibility standards in a video-conferencing standards with the Rural Development Ministers of the states. 

As per this relaxation, families earning up to Rs 15,000 per month and owning two-wheelers, motorised fishing boats, refrigerators, landline can now avail the Centre's rural housing scheme.  Previously, families meeting these parameters were ineligible to purchase a house under this scheme.

Despite the changes in the automatic exclusion criteria, those who still continue to remain ineligible to avail the scheme are people owning motorised 3/4 wheelers, mechanised 3/4-wheeler agricultural equipment, and Kisan Credit Card with a credit limit of Rs 50,000 or above.

Households with non-agricultural enterprises registered with Government, any member of the family paying income tax/professional tax, land ownership ceiling of 2.5 acres or more of irrigated land are also ineligible to avail this scheme. 

During his video conferencing with state ministers, Chouhan also said that the land related criteria under the PM Awas Yojana-Gramin have also been rationalised.

At present, households living in pucca houses with pucca roof and/or wall, and households in houses with more than 2 rooms have already been filtered out. The Union Cabinet last month approved the rural development ministry's proposal for the implementation of the PMAY-G housing scheme from 2024-25 to 2028-29. 

Moreover, the Cabinet also approved making the requirement of Aadhaar-based payment system (ABPS) for beneficiaries. The Cabinet also decided to not increase the amount per unit from Rs 1.2 lakh in plain areas and Rs 1.3 lakh in hilly areas. 

In the Union Budget 2024-25, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the government's plans to build an additional 2 crore rural homes under the housing scheme over the next 5 years. These 2 crore houses will be over and above the target of 2.95 crore rural houses under the 'Housing for All' programme, of which around 2.65 crore houses have been completed so far.