What is the amount allocated in Union Budget 2017 for the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana?
S tarted in 1985 as part of the Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP), Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) was subsumed in Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY) in 1989 and has been operating as an independent scheme since 1996.From 1995–96 the scheme has been further extended to widows or next-of-kin of defence personnel killed in action, ex-servicemen and retired members of the paramilitary forces who wish to live in rural areas as long as they meet basic eligibility criteria. "Indira Awaas Yojana" (IAY) was launched by Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India in 1985 and was restructured as "Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana" (PMGAY) in 2015. The broad purpose of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to some of the weakest sections of society for them to upgrade or construct a house of respectable quality for their personal living. Allocation of Rs 23,000 crore has been done to the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana in UB 2017.
