69% houses under PMAY in rural India are owned by women, says govt.

Source: The post is based on the article “69% houses under PMAY in rural India are owned by women, says govt.” published in The Hindu on 4^th October 2022.

What is the News?

The government has recently informed about the status of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

What is Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana?

About the performance of PMAY-Gramin

As on September 29, 2022, a total of two crore houses had been constructed out of the 2.46 crore houses that were sanctioned. Of this, 69% are owned partly or completely by women.

What is the reason behind the increase in women beneficiaries?

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) was launched by the Prime Minister in 2016 with the aim of constructing 2.95 crore houses. The scheme had been the government’s endeavour to ensure women get a fair share of government schemes under the Nari Shakti initiative.

The idea behind the initiative is to have “women-led” development instead of “development of women”.

What are the other schemes which led to “women-led” development?

1) Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana: The government informed that this scheme has helped safeguard the health of women and children by ensuring the supply of clean cooking fuel.

Over 9.4 crore LPG connections have been released under the Ujjwala Yojana. The International Energy Agency has described the scheme as a major achievement in improving the environment and health of women.

2) Swachh Bharat Mission: Under it, 11.5 crore toilets were constructed in the rural areas and 70 lakh were built in the urban areas. This scheme has helped women gain dignity and security.

After the construction of toilets, 93% of women reported that they were no longer afraid of being hurt by someone or harmed by animals while defecating.

As many as 93% of women reported they are no longer afraid of contracting health infections; 92% of women said they were no longer afraid of going to the toilet in the dark of night.