Rajiv Awas Yojana

The initial period of 2011-2013 was the precursory stage for developing the Rajiv Awas Yojana or the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Yojana. The Rajiv Awas Yojana, also known as RAY, is a visionary endeavour by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) that was launched in 2011 envisioning a slum-free India. The Rajiv Gandhi Awas Yojana was bureaucratically executed in two steps. This scheme focuses on resolving the issue of the unavailability of adequate housing facilities for the urban poor. After being ratified by the government, the Rajiv Awas Yojana envisions eliminating urban slums from India.

The Rajiv Awas Yojana aims to have cities without slums where there is equitable distribution of resources among all the residents of the urban area. This has to be done through funding for infrastructural development and careful optimisation of resource reallocations. The vision of the Rajiv Awas Yojana is to build cities where every individual has access to hygienic residential facilities, civic amenities, and improve the standard of living in such areas.

Rajiv Awas Yojana list for the three types of financial schemes include three different schemes. Namely, Categories A, B, and C. These include:

• Category A: Endows Rs. 5 Lakhs to underprivileged people residing in urban areas with a population of over five lakhs.

• Category B: Provides Rs. 4 Lakhs to LIG people from urban dwellings with a population under five lakhs.

• Category C: Allows people from the special category states (Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jammu & Kashmir) and the Northeastern states to receive a fixed amount of Rs. 5 Lakhs.

The state-level authorities have determined selection criteria for slums in cities or urban encroachments, which are listed below:

• The cities and urban dwellings with an underprivileged population in slums are prioritised under the Rajiv Awas Yojana.

• Authorities attempt to encompass historical, cultural, religious, and heritage locations under the Rajiv Awas Yojana and are even emphasised over other areas under the scheme.

• Urban dwellings with large demography of a marginalised population section belonging to scheduled tribes, castes and other minority communities are also given preference for the scheme. 

There are specific criteria for an urban dwelling of people inhabiting slums to become eligible for receiving funds from the Rajiv Awas Yojana scheme. They are as follows:

• Firstly, the size of the proposed project has to be over 250 dwelling units to qualify for the Rajiv Awas Yojana scheme.

• The population of the dwellings can include people belonging to LIG-A, LIG-B, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, or Other Backward Categories.

• A minimum of 60% of the Floor Space Index or Floor Area Ratio should be allocated for dwellings with carpet areas under 60 square feet.

The following activities fall under the scope of the Rajiv Awas Yojana:

• Formation of organisations to carry out tasks such as data entry, survey, GIS monitoring, and MIS data integration to collect data about slums eligible under Rajiv Awas Yojana.

• Allocation of State Level Cell funds by the Central and State Government with equal shares barring the particular category and northeastern states.

• Under the Rajiv Awas Yojana, the expense sharing ratio between the State and the Central government is 50:50. However, in the case of a particular category and north-eastern states, it is in the ratio of 20:80.

• Preparation of an exhaustive project report that is examined by both external consultants as well as in-house experts.

• Monitoring of progress under the Rajiv Housing Scheme by an external Third Party Committee.

Rajiv Rinn Yojana is a financial credit scheme that is provided by the Rajiv Housing Scheme or Rajiv Awas Yojana. Under this credit disbursal scheme, you are given a 5% subsidy on long-term loans that go on for a period that usually extends over a period of 25 to 20 years. It has a ceiling of Rs. 5 Lakhs for the financially underprivileged population and an apex limit of Rs. 8 Lakhs exclusively available for the Lower Income Groups or LIGs.

To gather more information on Rajiv Awas Yojana, go to the official website of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and click on the ‘About Us’ button or the 'Contact Us’ option. You will find a directory with all the essential phone numbers for the latter.

Just click on the following link: https://mohua.gov.in/cms/telephone-directory.php

All the email addresses, contact numbers, and designations are listed here. All you need is to dial up the concerned official and communicate about your obstacles.

There are several other government housing schemes akin to the Rajiv Awas Yojana which are working towards mitigating the crisis of residential space for the marginalised urban poor all over India. These government schemes, along with their website links, are listed below: 

You can directly visit the websites and get to know about these schemes. You can also learn about how they work and their availability criteria. The Housing Loan available on Bajaj Markets can work in your favour as you can avail an incredibly high sanction loan at a flexible tenure and a nominal interest rate. With a home loan, you can get up to ₹5 Crores as a sanction and use the funding to either buy, build or renovate your home.