Editor's Pick: Centre holds ₹4,000 cr for AP PMAY name change

The Andhra Pradesh government’s decision to add the ruling YSR Congress Party’s imprint to the Union government’s flagship rural housing scheme — Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) — and rebrand it to Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-YSR is proving costly for the State. As per sources, the State government’s decision has caused the Union Finance Ministry to put a temporary hold on ₹4,000 crore that Andhra Pradesh should get under a scheme for “special assistance to State for capital investment”, apart from ₹1,300 crore in pending PMAY-G funds. The funds have not been released despite the State government agreeing to remove its branding and logo from the scheme. For an identical violation in West Bengal, where the State government rebranded the scheme as the Bangla Awas Yojana, Central funds have not been released since 2022. This financial year too, funds were not released to West Bengal for the “non-submission of satisfactory compliance of the directives of the Ministry”. The Union Rural Development Ministry wrote its first letter flagging Andhra Pradesh’s violation on July 17, noting that instead of PMAY-G, the State had called the scheme PMAY-YSR, and used its own logo alongside the Union government’s logo. On August 7 and 8, Union Rural Development Secretary Shailesh Singh wrote to Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy, noting that the “core features” of Centrally sponsored schemes, including PMAY-G, are “unalterable and funds from Government of India can flow only if the core features of the scheme are adhered to in entirety”. “While we do acknowledge the contribution of the State of Andhra Pradesh in providing State top-up and sand for construction, it is essential to acknowledge and preserve the uniformity of the PMAY-G by not altering the design of the scheme which has been approved by the Union Cabinet,” Mr. Singh wrote. The rural housing scheme provides ₹1.3 lakh for each unit constructed under the scheme, with a 60:40 split in funding from the Centre and State. Over and above this amount, A.P.’s Housing Secretary Ajay Jain says the State provides a top-up of ₹70,000 per unit and also free sand for the construction. The State is chasing a target of building 1.79 lakh homes by a deadline of March 2024, when the scheme is expected to be completed nationally. The State had written to the Union government, proposing co-branding of the scheme, but its proposal was shot down. The Hindu’s Editorials Revenue rebound: On GST collections Tiding over: On north India and its annual air quality inflection point in November The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana that was introduced in 2020 as a pandemic relief measure, how many kilograms of free food grains will be provided to beneficiaries every month? 5 3 7 4 To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 06 November 2023 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Centre holds ₹4,000 cr for AP PMAY name change The Andhra Pradesh government’s decision to add the ruling YSR Congress Party’s imprint to the [Union government’s flagship rural housing scheme]( — Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) — and [rebrand it to Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-YSR is proving costly for the State.]( As per sources, the State government’s decision has caused the Union Finance Ministry to put a temporary hold on ₹4,000 crore that Andhra Pradesh should get under a scheme for “special assistance to State for capital investment”, apart from ₹1,300 crore in pending PMAY-G funds. The funds have not been released despite the State government agreeing to remove its branding and logo from the scheme. [For an identical violation in West Bengal]( where the State government rebranded the scheme as the Bangla Awas Yojana, [Central funds have not been released since 2022.]( This financial year too, funds were not released to West Bengal for the “non-submission of satisfactory compliance of the directives of the Ministry”. The Union Rural Development Ministry wrote its first letter flagging Andhra Pradesh’s violation on July 17, noting that instead of PMAY-G, the State had called the scheme PMAY-YSR, and used its own logo alongside the Union government’s logo. On August 7 and 8, Union Rural Development Secretary Shailesh Singh wrote to Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy, noting that the “core features” of Centrally sponsored schemes, including PMAY-G, are “unalterable and funds from Government of India can flow only if the core features of the scheme are adhered to in entirety”. “While we do acknowledge the contribution of the State of Andhra Pradesh in providing State top-up and sand for construction, it is essential to acknowledge and preserve the uniformity of the PMAY-G by not altering the design of the scheme which has been approved by the Union Cabinet,” Mr. Singh wrote. The rural housing scheme provides ₹1.3 lakh for each unit constructed under the scheme, with a 60:40 split in funding from the Centre and State. Over and above this amount, A.P.’s Housing Secretary Ajay Jain says the State provides a top-up of ₹70,000 per unit and also free sand for the construction. [The State is chasing a target of building 1.79 lakh homes by a deadline of March 2024, when the scheme is expected to be completed nationally.]( State had written to the Union government, proposing co-branding of the scheme, but its proposal was shot down. The Hindu’s Editorials [Arrow][Revenue rebound: On GST collections]( [Arrow][Tiding over: On north India and its annual air quality inflection point in November]( The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana that was introduced in 2020 as a pandemic relief measure, how many kilograms of free food grains will be provided to beneficiaries every month? - 5 - 3 - 7 - 4 To know the answer and to play the full quiz, [click here](. 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