K. Sudhakaran, MP, has said that the Centre is neglecting the State and not providing funds under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) for constructing houses for the homeless.
The PMAY aims at ensuring houses for all in the country by 2022. It is to be implemented by the States with funds from the Centre.
In a letter to Union Minister for Rural Development Narendra Singh Tomar, Mr. Sudhakaran said 3.11 lakh homeless people in Kerala, including 15,805 in Kannur district, were registered under the PMAY Awas Plus. It is discriminatory that only the households identified by SECC Census 2011 were included in the scheme. The funds should be given to all those who were found homeless by the local bodies, he said.
The neglect was evident from the fact that Kannur district had a target of 2,132 houses as per the 2011 census, but only 688 houses were allocated funds. The Central funds for 2018-’19 and 2019-’20 were yet to reach the State. A list of 15,850 people selected from various panchayats in the district had been submitted to the State government. The State government was also not exerting pressure to get the funds from the Centre, the MP alleged.
