PM Awas Yojana remains a non-starter for needy families

Deepkamal Kaur

Jalandhar, June 15

Jalandhar West Assembly seat, which is to go to bypoll on July 10, perhaps has the maximum population residing in the slums. The area has a large number of families living in unsafe houses which can collapse anytime.

There are several pockets within Basti Danishmandan, Basti Guzan, Basti Sheikh and Basti Nau, which have congested population living under kutcha roofs, which start leaking as soon as the monsoon season arrives. These pockets, including Shivaji Nagar, Lasoori Mohalla, New Raseela Nagar, Begampura Mohall and Kot Sadiq, have several houses where the benefit of PM Awas Yojana has not reached the needy families.

Nisha Rani, a resident of Shivaji Nagar, showed the condition of her house. The roof of the washroom at her house has given way. Her temporary washroom does not have a fixed door. The roof of the room under which she, her husband Raj Kumar and her teenage son sleep has wooden panels covered by tarpaulin sheets. “With arrival of the monsoon our lives will become miserable. Rainwater will start seeping in and all our belongings will get dampened. The kutcha floor of the house will become swampy. We really don’t know how to survive during the next three months,” she said.

Her husband, who is a daily wager, quickly takes out a document to show that he had applied for the credit under the PM Awas Yojana. He says, “Everything is on paper only. We don’t know how and when this scheme will start. Without government aid of Rs 1.5 lakh and meagre income we have, I would never be able to construct my house.”

Sumit, who too resides in Shivaji Nagar, is physically challenged and does packing work to make his both ends meet. He also showed the condition of his house. The bricks from the roof of his house are falling. The family collects and stores fallen bricks in a room so that these can be reused. “We applied for benefit under the PM Awas Yojana, but we took back our file. Officials told us to demolish the house roof first and start construction from the foundation level. I cannot afford to do that. Where would we live till the construction work is complete?” he asked.