Odisha CM seeks removal of withdrawal limits for rural housing beneficiaries

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remove the financial limit of withdrawal from the bank account for rural housing beneficiaries.

“I would like to request you to kindly waive out the financial limit of withdrawal in respect of the beneficiaries of PMAY-G, Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana, IAY and others State funded Rural Housing Schemes in the interest of the poor rural housing beneficiaries and success of the schemes,” said the Chief Minister in a letter to the Prime Minister.

He said that the state has succeeded in completing about 1.4 lakh houses under various rural housing schemes, both centrally sponsored and state funded, during the current financial year.

The state aims at achieving 5 lakh completion by March 31, 2017, he added.

The Chief Minister informed that timely release of installments to the beneficiaries, among others initiatives taken up by state, plays a pivotal role in successful implementation of these schemes.

The total sanctioned amount is released in four installments to the beneficiaries in the state.

The instalments are (i) Rs.20,000, (ii) Rs.30,000/35,000, (iii) Rs.40,000/45,000 and (iv) Rs.30,000.

“Thus, the 1st installment of Rs.20,000 is within the limit of withdrawal from the bank account set by the RBI post demonetization, but the rest three others go beyond the stipulated limit of withdrawal,” said the Chief Minister in the letter.

“The limit of withdrawal from bank account not only causes inconvenience to the poor beneficiaries of these schemes but also has been a dampener to our goal of completing 5 lakh houses during this financial year,” said Patnaik.