Siwan: A major verification drive has begun in Bihar’s Siwan district to check the eligibility of families surveyed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin, the central government’s rural housing scheme. In total, 2,42,754 families are being verified to decide who will finally receive the benefit of a permanent house. To carry out this task smoothly, special teams of officials and employees have been formed at the panchayat, block and district levels. Officials said the final target for new house construction in the district will be fixed only after this verification process is completed.
The list of beneficiaries was prepared earlier through the Awas Plus portal, following a detailed survey of homeless and needy families. According to official data, the survey includes 20,638 men and 2,22,116 women. It also covers 14,240 beneficiaries from Scheduled Tribes, 38,432 from Scheduled Castes, 1,90,082 from other categories and 2,671 persons with disabilities. Authorities say the verification is necessary to ensure that government assistance reaches only those families who truly need housing support.
Under the process, panchayat-level committees will first verify families at the local level and submit their reports to the District Rural Development Department. These reports will then be checked by rural housing supervisors, block accountants, accounts assistants and executive assistants. During this stage, officials will also verify whether any family has already received housing benefits in previous years, so that duplication can be avoided.
After record matching and field verification, the verified information will be entered into the Awas Soft system at the block office level. The block-level committee will review panchayat-wise data and upload it through the block login. Deputy Development Commissioner Mukesh Kumar said the district-level committee will further verify two per cent of the surveyed data as a sample check and enter it through the district login. He added that families owning permanent houses, vehicles, agricultural machinery, or having higher income, government jobs, tax liability or large landholdings will not be eligible for housing benefits under the scheme.
