Be cautious against fraudulent activities in PMAY’s name: Housing Minister

By Realty Quarter Bureau

The minister of housing and urban affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, on June 7, 2018, warned home buyers that ‘fly-by-night operators’ were using the name of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) programme to lure customers, when they had ‘nothing to do’ with the scheme. “A lot of activities by builders and promoters in the areas around Delhi have been of unscrupulous and fraudulent nature. The PMAY (U) is a clearly-identified scheme. Fly-by-night operators, who are charging fancy prices, have nothing to do with the PMAY,” he told reporters at a press conference.

Responding to a query over reported complaints of bogus developers offering flats under the scheme, he asked people to guard against builders, who use the name of PMAY (U) to lure customers. “I would recommend buyers to check, before buying homes. All the information on the PMAY is available on our website,” he said.

Puri said that said around 47.5 lakh affordable housing units had been approved under the PMAY (U), with a total investment of over Rs 2.68 lakh crores. He said around 27 lakh houses have been grounded so far, under the scheme. Speaking about the Smart City Mission, Puri said the projects under the scheme, like ‘smart intelligence system’, had resulted in a fall in crime against women and elderly. He added that as many as 14 ‘city command and control centres’ would be set up by various smart cities soon.

On the land pooling policy, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) vice-chairman Udai Pratap Singh, said the policy was ready and the ‘board of hearing’ would held by month-end. “Hopefully, by July-end, the policy on land pooling will be submitted to the ministry, which will notify it,” he added. Under the policy, agencies will develop infrastructure such as roads, schools, hospitals, community centres and stadia on the pooled land and return a portion of the plot to the farmer, who can execute housing projects with the help of private builders.