Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government will launch a new scheme to help the deserving middle-class section of the country living on rent or, in slums or in unauthorised colonies to either buy or build their own home. “Our Government will launch a scheme to help deserving sections of the middle class “living in rented houses, or slums, or chawls and unauthorised colonies” to buy or build their own houses," the Finance Minister said in her speech.
She also emphasised that the government will adopt an economic approach which will facilitate sustainable development and improve productivity. In addition, she said, “Development programmes, in the past ten years, have targeted each and every household and individual, through ‘housing for all’, ‘har ghar jal’, electricity for all, cooking gas for all, bank accounts and financial services for all, in record time.”
She also mentioned regarding the rooftop solarisation and free electricity initiative. Under this initiative, the government will ensure that one crore households will be able to get free electricity of up to 300 units per month. This is estimated to result in household savings of Rs 15,000-18,000 annually.
In an effort to empower women, FM said that the government is taking every step to promote “Nari Shakti’ including “giving over 70 per cent of houses under PM Awas Yojana in rural areas to women as sole or joint owners in an effort to enhance their dignity,” she said.
The Finance Minister also gave an update on the government’s Prime Minster Awas Yojana (Grameen); she said, “Despite the challenges due to Covid, the implementation of PM Awas Yojana (Grameen) continued, and we are close to achieving the target of three crore houses. Two crore more houses will be taken up in the next five years to meet the requirement arising from the increase in the number of families.”