Parliament Question: Socio Economic Caste Data in Bihar

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1388 ANSWERED ON 09/12/2025 SOCIO ECONOMIC CASTE DATA IN BIHAR 1388. Shri Ajay Kumar Mandal: Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state: (a) whether the allocation of Pradhan MantriAwasYojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) housing is being done with outdated Socio Economic Caste (SEC) data in Bihar, if so, the details thereof; (b) whether the number of deserving people have been denied a fair chance due to outdated data and the steps taken to rectify this situation; (c) whether it is a fact that the names of many eligible persons under PMAY-G have not been included in SEC data due to various reasons that deprived them from the benefits of PM AwasYojana; (d) whether the names of many unwanted persons have been included in SEC data due to which they have got the benefit of PM AwasYojana; and (e) if so, the action taken by the Government to remove these anomalies so that eligible person can get benefits of the scheme? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. CHANDRA SEKHAR PEMMASANI) (a) to (e): No. In order to achieve the target of “Housing for All” in rural areas, the Ministry of Rural Development is implementing Pradhan MantriAwaasYojana- Gramin (PMAY-G) with effect from 1st April, 2016 to construct 2.95 crore houses by providing assistance to eligible rural households with basic amenities. The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for “Implementation of the Pradhan MantriAwaasYojana- Gramin (PMAY-G) during FY 2024-25 to 2028- 29” for construction of additional 2 crore rural houses. As on 04.12.2025, a cumulative target of 50,12,752 houses have been Page 1 of 4allotted to the State of Bihar out of which 49,08,187 houses have been sanctioned and 39,31,606 houses have been completed. The identification of beneficiaries under PMAY-G was based on the housing deprivation parameters and exclusion criteria prescribed under Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC)-2011 and due verification by the respective Gram Sabhas and completion of an Appellate Process. These parameters/criteria were applied on SECC 2011 database to identify eligibility of beneficiaries under PMAY-G. There was a need to meet the new demand that arose during the intervening period and to meet gaps due to reduction in number of eligible beneficiary in SECC 2011 based Permanent Wait List (PWL). The Government conducted Awaas+ 2018 survey during January 2018 to March 2019 to identify those beneficiaries which claimed to have been left out under the SECC 2011 survey and thus prepared an additional list of potentially eligible beneficiaries. During Awaas+ survey, a total of 25,36,415 potentially eligible households were registered by the State of Bihar and after remanding/verification by Gram Sabhas, a total of 22,22,044 were found potentially eligible by the States/UTs. Of the overall mandate, 26,99,534 beneficiary households have been allocated from SECC 2011 survey database and 23,13,218 households have been allocated from Awaas+ survey database after following due verification process by Gram Sabhas and Appellate Process thereafter. The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for implementation of the scheme for 5 more years during FY 2024-25 to 2028-29 to provide assistance for the construction of 2 crore additional rural houses. Approval has also been provided for updating the Awaas+ List for identifying eligible rural households using modified exclusion criteria under the scheme. In line with the approval of the Union Cabinet, a survey is being conducted for the identification of additional eligible rural households under the scheme. The PMAY-G has always been pioneer is introducing technology-based solutions for effective and transparent management of the scheme. With new phase being implemented the PMAY-G has introduced multiple features to maximise transparency Page 2 of 4and ensure sanctity in the process right from the identification to completion of the houses. The new features are:  Awaas+ 2024 app- a unique app specially designed under the Pradhan MantriAwaasYojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), having features of assisted survey through pre-registered surveyors, housing technology selection, face authentication, Aadhar based e-KYC, data capture of household, conditions of existing house, time stamped, and geo tagged photo capture of existing house proposed site of construction. The app works in online as well as offline mode. “Self-Survey” facility is available for eligible household in Awaas+2024 app Survey for next phase of PMAYG (2024-29).  AwaasSakhi (Support Application for Knowledge, Help and Innovation) is an innovative mobile application developed to enhance access to PMAY-G by bringing essential information and resources in one place. Through the application, beneficiaries can gain awareness about the scheme, obtain answers to their queries and determine their eligibility for the scheme, equipping them with knowledge to make informed decisions. Further, AwaasSakhi paves the way towards active involvement of beneficiaries and their community in the house construction process by making available house design typologies, locally available BIS certified materials and rural masons. AwaasSakhi, in the essence of its name, aims to provide Help, enable access to Knowledge and promote Innovation in PMAY-G. The application makes essential information and tools available at the fingertips of the beneficiaries enabling them to take full advantage of the scheme and achieve their dream of owning a secure and resilient house.  Usage of AI/ML model to curb fraudulent activity and provide information of possible malpractices.  Recommendation System – This module identifies various house attributes such as pucca wall, pucca roof, kutcha wall, kutcha roof, logo, window, door, and person in the uploaded photos of a completed house and recommends a final photograph for approval. Page 3 of 4 Anomaly Detection and Fraud Prevention – This module calculates similarity score between the photograph of house that is being inspected and other houses in the vicinity to prevent any kind of fraudulent activity in this regard.  e-KYC App – The app is integrated with Aadhaar and uses AI-enabled face authentication technology to conduct verification of PMAY-G beneficiaries.  Liveliness Detection: Eye Blink/ Motion detection feature in Awaas App for identification of the beneficiaries. ***** Page 4 of 4