Criteria for eligibility under the PMAY scheme

The BJP government in 2015 launched the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme in a bid to provide affordable housing to all by building 20 million affordable houses by 31 March, 2022. It has two components: Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) (PMAY-U) for the urban poor and Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Gramin) (PMAY-G and also PMAY-R) for the rural poor.

The features of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Scheme

1. Government is to provide an interest subsidy of 6.5% on housing loans availed by beneficiaries

2. The houses under PMAY would be constructed through a technology that is eco-friendly

3. Ground floors in the housing scheme will be reserved for differently abled people and older persons

4. Government to chip in with financial assistance for affordable housing projects done in partnership with States/ Union Territories for the Economically Weaker Section.

The eligibility criteria

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana scheme is primarily aimed at providing houses to all the homeless in the country. So, understandably, people who already own a home are kept out of the ambit of PMAY. The rule also stipulates that the beneficiaries should not have availed of central assistance for any housing scheme from the Government of India to get assistance under PMAY. A beneficiary family should ideally comprise of husband, wife, unmarried sons, and/or unmarried daughters. To avoid duplication, beneficiary family members have to provide their Aadhaar numbers while applying for the loan.

Rules to derive benefits under the scheme

As per the guidelines, an adult earning member (whether married or unmarried) can be treated as a separate household under the scheme, if he/she does not own a pucca house in his / her name in any part of India. This implies that even if children, irrespective of their marital status, are staying with their parents in a house owned by the parents (or on rent, in the same or another city), they can also avail benefits under the PMAY if they are earning and don't own any other home. A married couple living on rent and even if their parents own a home, will be treated as a separate household. But, under PMAY, they will be eligible for a single house, bought by either of the spouses or both together in joint ownership.