Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Eligibility

This programme envisages 'Housing for All' by 2026. Hence, it strives to maintain fairness and transparency in the identification and selection of beneficiaries. The primary objective is to ensure that the economically weak sections and deprived people get priority in the selection process.

This system does away with the BPL list. The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin includes all the homeless people, as well as those living in dilapidated houses as per SECC data.

• The base for collecting data to determine eligibility is the 2011 survey conducted by the Government under the Indira Awas Yojana.
• Priority will be accorded to people who are homeless or live in homes with zero, one, or two rooms.
• The list of beneficiaries is updated every year and verified by the respective Gram Sabha
• The beneficiary should belong to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) of the Low Income Group (LIG) to be eligible for inclusion under the scheme.
• The maximum household income for the EWS category is  3 Lakhs per annum, whereas the maximum household income for the LIG is  6 Lakhs per annum.    
   

The prioritisation of the beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin is as follows:

• There will be multilayered prioritisation within each category (SC/ST, Minorities, and Others) depending on the parameters reflecting housing deprivation. The homeless people will get the highest priority, followed by those living in zero, one, or two-room houses. Households living in homes with a higher number of rooms will not rank above those living in homes with a lower number.
• The following socio-economic parameters are also considered before preparation of the beneficiary list.
• Households not having any adult member in the age group of 16 to 59 years
• Households headed by female members not having any adult male between 16 and 59 years of age.
• Houses not having any literate adult above 25 years
• Households having disabled members and no able-bodied person
• Landless families depending on manual casual labour for their income

Separate priority lists are prepared for each category and for each village after considering the above factors. The dedicated software programme MIS-AwaasSoft prepares the priority list for circulation among the Gram Sabhas for verification purposes. The respective Gram Sabha is responsible for verifying the genuineness of the data before the preparation of the final list. In case of a tie between two households, the following points are considered to decide the priority.

• Households comprising of widows or next-of-kin of defence/police/paramilitary forces killed in the line of duty.
• Homes having a member suffering from diseases like cancer, leprosy, or HIV
• Households having a single girl child
• Families that fall within the definition of the Forest Rights Act
• Transgender population

On finalisation of the list, each household gets a distinct rank. The list is circulated among the village Gram Panchayats. There is a window period consisting of 15 days for people to voice their grievances or complaints.

The final list after resolving all grievances is prepared on an annual basis. It forms the base for selection of the beneficiary in the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin. Note that the beneficiary does not have to apply for financial assistance. The household gets the financial help strictly as per their wait-listed number. The status of each beneficiary is available on the official website of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin.

The objective of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Urban scheme is to ensure that every Indian citizen living in urban areas has a permanent shelter over their head by the year 2022. However, the eligibility criteria for the urban development scheme are different from that of the rural development programme.

The eligibility criteria income-wise are as follows:

• Economically Weaker Section comprises of those households where the annual income is less than or equal to  3 Lakhs.
• The Lower Income Group consists of households having annual income higher than  3 Lakhs and up to  6 Lakhs.
• There are two other income groups, namely Middle Income Group I and II (MIG-I and MIG-II)
  • Households having annual income more than  6 Lakhs and up to  12 Lakhs annually come under MIG-I.
  • The households having annual income higher than  12 Lakhs and up to  18 Lakhs qualify for financial assistance under the MIG-II category.
• The EWS and the LIG category households can apply online on the PMAY-U  website. Those belonging to the MIG I and MIG II should approach their respective banks directly and apply for Home Loans under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Scheme.
• The EWS and LIG are further divided into two components - Slum-dwellers and non-slum dwellers.
• Slum-dwellers have to apply for financial assistance under the Insitu Slum Redevelopment Programme.

Non-slum dwellers have three options as follows:

• Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme: Interest subsidy is available at the rate of 6.5% for a maximum of 15 years on loan amounts up to  6 Lakhs to the EWS and LIG category. Loan amounts beyond  6 Lakhs are not eligible for a subsidy. This subsidy is an upfront subsidy that helps to reduce the EMI burden for the EWS and LIG segments.
• Affordable Housing in Partnership: The condition is that a minimum of 35% of the houses should be for the EWS, and a single project should have at least 250 homes.
• Beneficiary Led Individual House Construction/Enhancement: Here, people having land get financial assistance up to 1.50 Lakhs for construction/enhancement of their homes.   

The MIG-I and MIG-II get the benefit of interest subsidy in the following manner:

• Loans up to  9 Lakhs for MIG-I: 4% interest subsidy
• Loans up to  12 Lakhs for MIG-II: 3% interest subsidy

Additional Info: Also check State Bank of India Home Loan