This document summarizes the Indian government's response to a parliamentary question regarding eligibility for financial assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (PMAY) Gramin scheme. The PMAY-G, implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development since April 1, 2016, aims to provide pucca houses with basic amenities to eligible rural households, contributing to the "Housing for All" objective. Initially targeting 2.95 crore houses from FY 2016-17 to 2023-24, the scheme has been extended for five years (FY 2024-25 to 2028-29) to assist with the construction of an additional 2 crore houses, maintaining the existing unit assistance structure. Eligibility under PMAY-G is determined based on the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011, encompassing houseless individuals and households residing in houses with zero, one, or two rooms with kutcha walls and roofs. The SECC defines a kutcha house as one primarily constructed with materials like grass, thatch, bamboo, plastic, polythene, mud, unburnt brick, wood, or loosely packed stone for walls, and similar materials or handmade tiles for roofs. An Expert Committee, chaired by the late Shri Nagesh Singh, was formed to review the definition of a kutcha house based on proposals from Assam, Tripura, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh. Consequently, for Assam and Tripura, houses with corrugated galvanized iron (CGI) sheet roofs and kutcha walls are considered kutcha houses. Furthermore, walls made of moisture-degradable materials like 'Icra' panels or unburnt bricks, but protected with cement sand plaster, may be considered pucca walls in these states.
Key Entities Referenced
Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana: A housing scheme aimed at providing affordable housing to eligible beneficiaries.
PMAYG: An abbreviation for Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana Gramin, the rural component of the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana scheme.
Ministry of Rural Development: The Indian government ministry responsible for rural development programs.
Lok Sabha: The lower house of the Parliament of India.
SocioEconomic Caste Census 2011: A survey conducted in 2011 in India to gather data on the socioeconomic status of households.
Assam: A state in Northeast India.
Tripura: A state in Northeast India.
Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan: Minister of Rural Development
O.I.H.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 233
ANSWERED ON 05/08/2025
ASSISTANCE UNDER PMAY
*233. Shri UtkarshVermaMadhur:
Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:
(a) whether a house with a thatched roof made of straw is
recognized as eligible for financial assistance under the
Pradhan MantriAwasYojana (PMAY);
(b) if so, the reasons therefor; and
(c) whether low cost roof made of tin sheets are considered as
thatched roof to extend the benefits of the PMAY scheme to
more people, if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN)
(a) to (c): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
Page 1 of 2STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (c) OF LOK
SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *233 TO BE ANSWERED ON
05.08.2025REGARDING “ASSISTANCE UNDER PMAY”
(a) to (c): The Ministry of Rural Development is implementing the
Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana - Gramin (PMAY-G) w.e.f. 1st April,
2016 to provide assistance to eligible rural households for the
construction of Pucca houses with basic amenities to achieve the
objective of "Housing for All" in rural areas. Under the PMAY-G, the
initial target was construction of 2.95 crore houses during FY 2016-
17 to 2023-24. The Government of India has approved continuation
of implementation of the scheme for 5 more years during FY 2024-25
to 2028-29 to provide assistance to 2 crore additional houses as per
the existing unit assistance.
Under PMAY-G, eligible beneficiaries includes all the
houseless and households living in zero, one or two rooms with
kutcha wall and kutcha roof (kutcha houses) as per Socio-Economic
Caste Census (SECC-2011).
As per the SECC definition of Kutcha house, a kutcha house is
a house with predominant material of wall of dwelling room being
Grass, thatch, bamboo, plastic, polythene, mud, unburnt brick,
wood, stone not packed with mortar and predominant material of
roof of dwelling room being Grass, thatch, bamboo, wood, mud,
plastic, polythene, handmade tiles.
However, an Expert Committee under the chairmanship of late
Shri Nagesh Singh, Former Additional Secretary to the Government
of India was constituted to provide its recommendations on the
proposals from the States of Assam, Tripura, Punjab and
Uttar Pradesh for revisiting the definition of Kutcha house under
PMAY-G. As per the recommendations given by the Expert
Committee, for the State of Assam and Tripura, decision was taken
that for the state of Assam and Tripura, “the house with the CGI
sheet roof and Kutcha wall may be considered as Kutcha house,
whereas wall with moisture degradable materials like 'Icra' panels,
unburnt bricks, etc. with external surface protected with cement
sand plaster may be considered as pucca wall.”
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