March 13, 2025: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in a press conference today, announced several key government initiatives, focusing on housing, women's enterpreneurship, and transparency in welfare schemes. He revealed that Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had approved 3.5 lakh new houses under the housing scheme. At present, 7 lakh housing applications are pending in Assam, and out of these, 3 lakh houses have been approved. The first installment under this scheme will be released on the 19th of this month, prioritizing areas where Rabha Hasong elections are not held. A total of 3.8 lakh beneficiaries will receive houses, and the government is hopeful of securing approval for the remaining 3.8 lakh pending applications as well.
The Chief Minister highlighted that 22 lakh people have already received or are in the process of receiving houses. However, despite these efforts, around 4 to 5 lakh poor people are still waiting for homes. To ensure transparency in allocation, it will be verified whether a house is a raw or temporary structure. The list prepared in 2018 will soon be completed, but some individuals may still remain without houses. To address this, the government will request the Centre to conduct geo-tagging of houses, ensuring a fair and corruption-free distribution process.
CM Sarma also addressed concerns regarding bribery in the geo-tagging process. Reports suggest that Panchayat officials have been demanding ₹10,000 to ₹15,000 for conducting geo-tagging, refusing to proceed without payment. In response, the government is introducing a new self-geo-tagging system. The first round of geo-tagging will be conducted by livelihood workers, known as Jeevika Sakhis, with the assistance of self-help group members. If a beneficiary's geo-tagging remains incomplete, they will have the option to do it themselves or seek help from their relatives. Assam is implementing this system for the first time to ensure a transparent process. Once geo-tagging is completed, final approval will be given by the Panchayat department. This will be followed by a village meeting, a block-level meeting, and a final review under the supervision of the guardian minister before submission to the Government of India.
The Chief Minister also announced that Aadhaar will be mandatory for availing benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). A large-scale campaign will be conducted from March 17 to 31 to facilitate the implementation of this requirement. Sarma assured that this new system would help eliminate corruption allegations in the housing scheme.