Shortage of funds led to PMAY-G withdrawal: CM

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday blamed the Centre for shortage of funds which led to the state’s failure to give its share in construction of houses for the rural poor under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G).

Baghel told reporters: “If the state was not able to contribute matching grants, it is because the Centre is not issuing the state’s due share in Central Excise, GST compensation and royalty as a penalty for allocation of coal mines.”

He said: “This amounts to thousands of crores of rupees and it was desperately needed for the state which is facing an economic crunch due to the pandemic.”

The Chief Minister was reacting to the Centre’s withdrawal of the target to build 781,999 houses in Chhattisgarh’s rural areas in 2021-22 under PMAY-G.

The Centre’s and state’s share under the scheme is 60:40. Since Chhattisgarh failed to give its share, the Centre withdrew the scheme from Chhattisgarh.  

In the Himalayan states, Union Territories and the Northeast, the ratio is 90:10. A similar share must be done for Chhattisgarh too, Baghel said.

It should be done because the scheme was named after the Prime Minister and hence the Center’s share must be hiked, he said.