Response to CLSS under PM Awas Yojana poor in West Bengal: NHB

Kolkata, Sept 7: The response to Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana targetting the urban poor has been very poor in West Bengal as compared to other states, the National Housing Bank said.

"The number of beneficiaries in West Bengal under PMAY's CLSS programme is only 137 till June 2016 as compared to good performing states like Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh," NHB executive director Sanjeev Sharma told reporters here today.

The scheme, which was launched in June 2015, provided a subsidy element for economically weaker sections (EWS) and low-income group (LIG) individuals who were keen to purchase homes or flats for the first time and having an annual income of Rs 3 lakh and Rs 6 lakh, respectively.

The CLSS programme was being run jointly by the NHB and the HUDCO. "A lot of things need to be done by the West Bengal government.

The progress of implementing the CLSS programme will now be monitored by State Level Bankers' Committees (SLBCs) now," he said.

He said that the state government had done a survey of households which could be the potential beneficiaries.

For the period till June 2017, the number of households in West Bengal which could avail the subsidy is more than 72,000, Sharma said. So far, more than 9,000 houses were being bought under CLSS across the country, involving a subsidy amount of Rs 165 crore, he said.

During the period from 2015 to 2022, six crore households had been identified, out of which 4 crore were rural and two crore in urban areas.

NHB, which is also the regulator of housing finance companies and other primary lending institutions, was also contemplating to incentivise those entities which were doing well for implementing the scheme.

"Non-performing entities will also be dealt with firmly," he said.

PTI