Housing schemes and the poor

The pain of not having a home can only truly be understood by those who do not have one. For poor families who struggle even to meet their daily needs, building a house on their own is almost impossible, especially at a time when construction costs have become very high. This is where government-supported housing schemes become important. The Centre and state governments have been implementing such housing schemes for years. However, official estimates show that around 20 crore people in India still do not have their own homes. Unofficial estimates suggest that the actual number of homeless people could be nearly twice as high. Under the Centre's Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), crores of houses have been built across the country. Similarly, Kerala's LIFE Mission has provided homes to lakhs of homeless families.

So far, 4.12 crore houses have been completed across India under the PMAY. According to figures from February 2026, the Kerala government's LIFE Mission has completed 5 lakh houses. The second phase of the PMAY is now set to begin. One major change in the new phase increases the financial burden on beneficiaries building houses in urban areas. Earlier, beneficiaries who owned land in urban areas were given Rs 4 lakh to build a house. Under the new scheme, this has been reduced to Rs 3 lakh, meaning the beneficiary will have to contribute Rs 1 lakh. Of the Rs 3 lakh assistance, the Centre will provide Rs 1.5 lakh, the state government Rs 1 lakh and the municipality Rs 50,000.

Under the earlier scheme, the Centre contributed Rs 1.5 lakh, the state government Rs 50,000 and the municipality Rs 2 lakh. Under the new scheme, the municipality's share has been reduced to Rs 50,000, while the state's contribution has been increased to Rs 1 lakh. The Centre's share remains unchanged at Rs 1.5 lakh. If the Centre had increased its contribution to Rs 2 lakh, it would have provided greater relief to beneficiaries. However, if Kerala stays away from the scheme over this issue, even beneficiaries willing to contribute Rs 1 lakh might be left without the opportunity to get a house.

Therefore, it cannot be said that the Kerala government's decision to join the scheme was wrong. The Centre will provide funds for 30,000 houses under the project. If Kerala stays out of the scheme, it will lose Rs 450 crore that it is entitled to receive as the central share. In the future, the state government could also consider creating a corpus fund with contributions from private individuals to support beneficiaries. The previous LDF government had stayed away from the scheme, objecting to the requirement to place the Centre's logo and the Prime Minister's photograph on the houses. Under the new scheme, however, there is no requirement to display the Prime Minister's photograph. It will be enough to mark the house as one built under a central government scheme. The government should now speed up measures to complete the project at the earliest and ensure that 30,000 more people get homes.