Yavatmal, Nov 16 (IANS): The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), one of the flagship schemes of the Modi government is unravelling immense benefits for the poor and marginalised citizens, with many realising their dreams of 'pucca' houses.

Rathod family of Nagapur village in Umarkhed tehsil of Yavatmal district is one such family benefitting from the scheme and living a happy life because of the PMAY. Using monetary assistance under the scheme, they have renovated their kuccha house into a pucca (permanent) one.

Vasant and Rajkumar Rathod, two brothers from the tribal community of Nagapur village, used to do farming and live in a kuccha house in the village. After Vasant passed away some years ago, his wife Asha and son applied for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) through Gram Panchayat in 2021-22.

Today, they are living in a pucca (permanent) house, made under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Rajkumar Rathod spoke to IANS and shared the story of moving from kuccha to pucca house.

“Earlier my brother's house was kuccha and the entire house used to leak during the rains, but because of PMAY, his house has become permanent. Now they don't have any problems,” he said.

“When they came to know that they could get financial assistance under PMAY, they applied for it. They applied for it and got Rs 1.20 lakh from the government, Rs 22,000 from the Employment Guarantee Scheme, Rs 12,000 for toilet,” he further informed.

Rathore’s is not just a single family benefiting from the affordable housing scheme of the government but there are many whose dreams of permanent houses has become a reality today. Many of those living in makeshift or mud houses have now moved into permanent dwelling units, under the PMAY-U and PMAY-R.

The PMAY was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in June 2015, with a mission to address the housing shortage among the lower and unprivileged class and enable them to live in a permanent house.