Meghalaya To Conduct Fresh Surveys Under PMAY-G To Address Multidimensional Poverty

Shillong: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday declared the state as 'survey ready' under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana - Gramin (PMAY-G) to address multidimensional poverty. This comes after mapping surveyors against each village and updating the Awaas+ 2018 list to ensure registration of deserving households and villages who were left out in the previous survey. The PMAY-G has been extended for another five years till 2028-29, with Meghalaya being among the first few to initiate surveys.

Since the launch of PMAY-G in 2016, Meghalaya has sanctioned 186,283 houses, achieving saturation of targets under the 2018 Awaas+ survey. So far, 113,158 (60.75%) houses have been completed, with the remaining under various stages of construction. The State aims to complete all pending houses by January 2025.

The State Rural Employment Society (SRES) has mapped 6,354 Surveyors against 6,426 villages to update the Awaas+ database using revised exclusion criteria and eKYC face-based authentication. It is mandatory for all potential beneficiaries to provide required documents such as Aadhaar Card, MGNREGA Job Card, bank account details, Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) number, Voter ID and caste certificate, and Affidavit declaring no permanent house ownership.

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The Housing Mission is one of the five core development goals envisioned by the Government of Meghalaya, aiming to tackle multidimensional poverty and set a benchmark for progress in rural housing and allied services. The government is leveraging its Housing Mission to address various aspects of rural deprivation in collaboration with other related schemes, creating access to essential services such as education, healthcare, clean water, sanitation, and other basic amenities.

Moreover, the CM has called on all eligible households and potential PMAY-G beneficiaries to prepare the necessary documentation and participate actively in the surveys that will be initiated. He also urged organizations at the village level including the VEC, VDC, VO, SHG to actively participate in the exercise, according to a release.