Srinagar, Sep 09 (KNO): Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo Tuesday chaired the maiden meeting of the Union Territory Level Sanctioning & Monitoring Committee (UTLSMC) of the Housing & Urban Development Department (H&UDD) to review progress under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–Urban (PMAY-U) and assess implementation of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–Jammu and Kashmir Shehri (D-JAY Shehri) scheme aimed at livelihood generation for the urban poor.
The meeting was attended by Commissioner Secretary, H&UDD, Mandeep Kaur; Commissioner Secretary, FCS&CA; Commissioner Secretary, Forests; Commissioner Secretary, Social Welfare; Commissioners of Jammu and Srinagar Municipal Corporations; MD, J&K Housing Board, Shahbaz Mirza; MD, NULM, Mridhu Salathia besides other senior officers.
During the meeting, the Committee approved the construction of 1,254 housing units under the Beneficiary Led Construction (BLC) vertical of PMAY-U 2.0 across districts of the UT and 304 additional dwelling units under the Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP) vertical to be taken up in Udhampur district. The Committee also cleared the Annual Capacity Building Plan for 2025–26 for onward submission to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
The Chief Secretary underscored the importance of identifying eligible beneficiaries to ensure timely commencement of Affordable Housing projects. He directed the Department to expedite completion of household surveys under PMAY-U 2.0 in all districts so that registration of beneficiaries under different verticals could be enhanced.
Stressing the need for transparency, he instructed that verification of all applicants be completed expeditiously to ensure genuine households receive the intended benefits.
Reviewing the pace of construction, he directed for completion of housing units being undertaken by the beneficiaries within stipulated timelines. He emphasized accelerating ongoing works under Phase-I of PMAY-U, which is nearing its sunset date, while simultaneously focusing on effective implementation of PMAY-U Phase-II.
Commissioner Secretary, H&UDD, Mandeep Kaur informed that December 2025 marks the sunset date of PMAY-U Phase-I, while Phase-II is already under implementation across the country. She highlighted that the scheme comprises four verticals—Beneficiary Led Construction (BLC), Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP), Interest Subsidy Scheme (ISS), and Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC)aimed at providing all-weather pucca houses to urban poor families.
She explained that Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) are entrusted with demand assessment, verification/validation of applications, and submission of monthly beneficiary lists to District Level Committees (DLCs) headed by Deputy Commissioners. The DLCs in turn review implementation and forward Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) to the UT Level Appraisal Committee (UTLAC) chaired by the Administrative Secretary, H&UDD, which then submits recommendations to the UTLSMC chaired by the Chief Secretary.
MD, J&K Housing Board, Shahbaz Mirza, while giving an overview of progress achieved under PMAY-U, informed that 32,803 dwelling units have been created across J&K under BLC (29,371 units) and Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (3,432 units).
Under PMAY-U 2.0, 18,489 applications have been received under BLC vertical and 4,753 under AHP vertical. Of these, 8,798 BLC applications and 1,093 AHP applications have been verified by ULBs, while 2,057 applicants under BLC and 53 under AHP have been found eligible.
Presenting the results of the household survey, Mirza informed that 3,27,630 households have been surveyed in J&K, identifying 64,097 households eligible under BLC, 13,999 under ISS, 5,321 under AHP, and 1,999 under ARHC verticals.
Later, MD NULM, Mridhu Salathia briefed the Committee about implementation of D-JAY Shehri, which focuses on socio-economic upliftment of the urban poor. She explained that the scheme’s profiling exercise will be conducted through a door-to-door household survey and help desks at fixed locations.
For the exercise, she added that around 150 teams each in Jammu and Srinagar are being constituted, comprising Mission Managers, Community Organizers, Municipal Officials, Anganwadi/ASHA workers, and Fair Price Shop dealers.
The Chief Secretary emphasized that both housing and livelihood initiatives must be implemented in a time-bound, transparent, and beneficiary-oriented manner to ensure that urban poor families across the UT derive maximum benefit from these flagship schemes—(KNO)