The Odisha government on Monday approved a new ‘Mo Ghara’ housing scheme, which will provide financial assistance to meet the aspiration of the lower and lower-middle-income households of rural Odisha and will cover all such families who were left out in the existing housing schemes.
The Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which completed four years of its fifth term in office, had promised to convert all ‘kutcha’ houses into ‘pucca’ ones in this term.
Under the ‘Mo Ghora’ scheme, a beneficiary can avail housing loan up to Rs 3 lakh which can be repaid in 10 years in instalments. The beneficiaries can opt for one of the four slabs of the loan amount – Rs 1 lakh, Rs 1.5 lakh, Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh.
The financial implication of the ‘Mo Ghara’ scheme for approximately 4 lakh beneficiaries is expected to be Rs 2,150 crore over a period of two years.
The eligibility criteria for availing the scheme states that the family must be staying in a kutcha house or one pucca room with RCC roof, and the income of the family must be below Rs 25,000 per month.
The family should not be a government/PSU employee or one who draws a monthly pension from government services, the eligibility criteria state. Additionally, families who own below five acres of irrigated land or below 15 acres of non-irrigated land are also eligible.
The Odisha government have set up a dedicated web portal for online application, monitoring and implementation of the scheme, which is rhodisha.gov.in/moghora.
The applications will be received through the portal from June 16, 2023.