Opinion | Homes of Hope: PMAY’s Journey Across Kashmir

From Tents to Pucca Walls, transforming lives, strengthening villages, and ensuring no one sleeps under an unsafe roof

In a region such as Jammu and Kashmir, where families must survive winters, a secure home means warmth, dignity, and the transformation of hardship into hope and opportunity. To understand this fact, the Government of India initiated the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in 2015 with a vision of achieving “Housing for All” through empowering poor and disadvantaged families to construct pucca (permanent) houses. The programme has enhanced the quality of life in a major way, facilitated women’s ownership, and restored dignity to many a resident in urban and rural Kashmir.

PMAY has two components: PMAY-Urban (PMAY-U) for urban families and PMAY-Gramin (PMAY-G) for rural families. In both schemes, beneficiary families receive financial assistance of ₹1.2 to ₹2.67 lakh to construct new homes or improve their current homes. The scheme is not just a four-wall building scheme, it also gives access to minimum basic amenities such as toilets, drinking water, electricity, and clean cooking gas by convergence with other government schemes.

In Srinagar, Jammu, Baramulla, Anantnag, and Budgam cities, PMAY-U has picked up concrete pace. Official statistics reveal that over 42,000 urban beneficiaries have been registered under PMAY-U in Jammu and Kashmir. Over 30,700 houses have been sanctioned, and about 24,000 units have been completed or are in the process of completion. The scheme is empowering families to move out of slums and sheds to secure and respectable dwelling units.

One such success story that we can quote is that of Shabnam Bano, a widow of Batamaloo, Srinagar, who got ₹2.5 lakh benefit under PMAY-U to construct a two-room house with toilet and kitchen. Shabnam, who resided in a leaking rented house for years, now enjoys the security of owning a house and the pride of homeownership. In Jammu, Ashok Kumar, a street vendor, was assisted by the Credit-Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) to avail a low-interest loan to construct his house, breaking the cycle of poverty for his family.

In remote regions like Kupwaka, Shopian, Rajouri, Kishtwar, and Poonch, PMAY-Gramin has reached remote villages, some of which never saw modern homes. As of March 2024, more than 1.83 lakh rural homes have been approved under PMAY-G in Jammu and Kashmir, and more than 1.35 lakh homes have been constructed. The scheme has especially helped families living in temporary, fragile homes that were prone to landslides, snowfall, and floods.

Like in the LoC’s Keran village in Kupwara, war widow Ameena Begum constructed a pucca house worth ₹1.3 lakh under PMAY-G. She also benefited from the Swachh Bharat Mission, Ujjwala Yojana, and Jal Jeevan Mission, illustrating how the schemes are being converged. Mohammad Shafi, as a differently abled person, in Kishtwar, constructed a warm, insulated one-room house, raising his comfort and self-respect.

An important and progressive feature of PMAY is women’s ownership. In most instances, the houses are in the name of the woman in the household, or jointly held with her husband. This has empowered women, has provided a mechanism for financial inclusion, and has provided women with legal security. Haleema was a domestic worker and her husband had abandoned her when she built her own home under PMAY in Baramulla, she became a symbol of strength and perseverance. Shaheena Akhtar in Thanamandi (Rajouri) was the first woman to be the title holder for property in her family, becoming an icon for many others.

PMAY also conforms to the terrain and climate of Kashmir. Sloping tin roofs to accommodate snow, earthquake-resistant construction, and thermal insulation are being used to design the buildings to accommodate high-altitude climate. Local materials like Devri stone and wood are being utilized in much of the area, combining long-established design with new safety features. This has resulted in the construction of houses that are both robust and culturally appropriate.

Apart from this, the scheme has also generated employment and enhanced local skill levels. In districts like Ramban and Udhampur, the government has initiated training of masons under PMAY, where local youngsters are trained in elementary construction skills. These individuals are then employed in continuous housing schemes, ensuring an economic cycle of benefits with reduced reliance on external labor.

Transparency and accountability are also ensured by using digital systems like AwaasSoft and AwaasApp, which provide real time monitoring of the work delivered to beneficiaries. The payment to beneficiaries is paid to the account of the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) into bank accounts-no middleman. In Doda district, nearly 85% of rural beneficiaries received the first of 3 months payment within approval period, getting all the improvement to digital/administrative infrastructure into account.

PMAY’s success in Jammu and Kashmir lies not in statistics—it is in the dignity to families, empowerment to women, development of far-flung villages, and smiles on the faces of children sleeping in secure homes. With each house constructed, the scheme is fostering hope, stability, and social integration.

The Way Forward: To leverage this success and turn “Housing for All” into a reality that lasts, the following actions in the future must be taken into account, Recognize and include left-out eligible families, especially from tribals and nomadic groups like Gujjars and Bakarwals, who may not have permanent documents but are eligible for safe habitation.

Increase awareness campaigns in high risk outer areas to alert families to eligibility, documentation, and application process, Increase technical staff capacity in order to expedite approval and build, especially in high risk, high altitude areas, Create skill development training for the local youth so that they can learn trades and possibly become micro-entrepreneurs in housing-sector services, Ensure regular monitoring and public accountability for progress and transparency, And promote green and sustainable home designs, local materials, and green building practices.

The Jammu and Kashmir PMAY team is a tale of building homes, but most importantly, of changing lives, one house at a time, one family at a time. Through the convergence of government support, community engagement, and prudent planning, the scheme has set the stage for inclusive development. With continued attention, responsive policies, and strong implementation, Jammu and Kashmir can really become a housing justice and human dignity model within the next few years.

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