Patna: Bihar’s rural housing push received a major boost on Thursday with Union rural development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announcing approval of 11.18 lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) and Rs 13,427 crore in central assistance. CM Samrat Choudhary, who shared the stage with Chouhan at a Patna programme, said the initiative would give poor families greater security and dignity while accelerating development in rural Bihar.Chouhan said 5.20 lakh houses had been approved for Bihar in 2025-26 with an allocation of Rs 6,249 crore. With the latest sanction, a total of 24.30 lakh houses worth Rs 29,164 crore have been approved for the state over the past two years.The minister also announced relaxed eligibility criteria under the new PMAY-G survey. Ownership of a two-wheeler will no longer lead to exclusion, while the monthly income ceiling has been raised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000. Farmers owning up to five acres of unirrigated land or 2.5 acres of irrigated land will also be eligible.Chouhan said poor families would receive Rs 80,000 for repairing or constructing old and dilapidated houses, while landless beneficiaries would get Rs 1 lakh for purchasing land.He also announced plans to set up C-Marts in every district to improve market access for products made by Jivika women’s self-help groups. He said the Centre and state govt were working together to strengthen rural infrastructure and improve living standards.The CM said 2.35 lakh PMAY-G houses had been completed and their housewarming marked at the programme. He said around 30 lakh permanent houses had been built for poor families under the Indira Awas Yojana between 1986 and 2014, while an allocation had been made for 50 lakh houses between 2014 and 2026.Samrat said 19 lakh families identified in the 2018 survey had remained without permanent houses but had now been brought under PMAY-G. The state govt contributes 40% of the funds required for construction.He also said 1.81 crore Jivika women were associated with self-help groups, with more than 30 lakh becoming ‘Lakhpati Didis’, and urged the Centre to set up dedicated markets at tourist destinations such as Nalanda, Buxar, Bhagalpur and Motihari for their products.
