[Watch] BJD MPs Reiterate Odisha’s Demand For Inclusion Of Tribals In PMAY-G

New Delhi: There Rajya Sabha members from BJD on Thursday reiterated Odisha’s demand for opening Awas Plus portal for inclusion of over six lakh identified eligible households from the state under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin).

During the Zero Hour, BJD MP Sasmit Patra said that the Centre had turned a deaf ear to the repeated demands of Odisha for opening the portal. “Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has written thrice for the same in the last three years but in vain,” he said.

The BJD MP demanded that the Awas Plus mobile app window be opened immediately so that data of the 6 lakh people of Odisha, who are predominantly tribals and from the Koraput-Balangir-Kalahandi (KBK) region of western and southern Odisha, can be included.

Citing the case of Karnataka, Patra questioned why Odisha has been denied this provision while the southern state was allowed to include 25 lakh eligible households under this scheme on January 13.

His party colleagues and member Amar Patnaik said that 9.2% of the total population in Odisha belong to Scheduled Tribe as per the 2011 census, just after Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. “It is these people who are being affected by the denial of the addition of 6.65 lakh houses to the Awas portal,” he added.

According to the National Institute of Public Finance and policy, the level of satisfaction with monetary assistance under this scheme is the highest in Odisha. “The level of construction of flooring is the best in the country. Despite all these measures and despite raising this issue repeatedly in this House in the last two and a half years, this has not been allowed,” he said.

Step-motherly treatment has been given to Odisha by allowing it to Karnataka, he said.

Another BJP MP Sujeet Kumar urged the Centre to show a non-partisan attitude and allow Odisha to make the additions.

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