Patna: In a significant move ahead of the assembly elections, the Bihar government has decided that unmarried adults without living parents will be treated as single families for the purpose of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin. The Rural Development Department clarified that families include husband, wife and their unmarried children, and now, unmarried adults whose parents have died will also be eligible for housing benefits under the scheme.
Rural Development Minister Shravan Kumar said this decision aims to resolve long-standing confusion over the definition of ‘family’ under the scheme. Officials noted that ambiguity had often caused disputes and delayed benefits for rural households.
The state cabinet has approved the decision, and a survey has listed 1,04,90,000 families for verification before finalising beneficiaries. Consent on the verified list will be taken in Gram Sabha meetings.
Meanwhile, the department has outlined 11 criteria under which families will not be eligible for the scheme. These include owning a concrete house, motorised three- or four-wheeler vehicles, mechanised agricultural equipment, or holding a Kisan Credit Card with a loan limit of Rs 50,000 or more. Other ineligible households are those with a government employee, an income tax payer, a member earning more than Rs 15,000 per month, registered non-agricultural enterprises, business taxpayers, those owning 2.5 acres or more of irrigated land, or 5 acres or more of unirrigated land.
