11 married women elope with lovers on receiving PM Awas Yojana installment: Report

Eleven women in Uttar Pradesh deserted their husbands and fled with their lovers after receiving the first installment of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana scheme of the central government, a report by Moneycontrol has revealed.

These 11 husbands from UP's Maharajganj district have now reportedly pleaded with the government to stop the flow of money into these women's accounts in connection with the PMAY. The amount that each of them received in their banks is Rs 40,000.

The PMAY was started by the Modi government in order to ensure crores of people who live in the villages of India receive financial help for building pucca houses.

The report reveals that government officials have also begun the process to ensure that money for the next installments is not released to these women's accounts.

Around 2,350 beneficiaries were selected in 2023-24 from Nichlaul block's 108 villages in Maharajganj. The report states that the construction of houses have been completed in 90 per cent of cases in the district.

The publication reveals that rules of the PMAY state that if the money intended for construction of houses is used at some other place, the government can recover the same from the person concerned.

This is not the first time that women have fled from their husbands' homes after receiving their PMAY money. Moneycontrol reports that four women from Barabanki district had earlier ran away with their lovers on receiving Rs 50,000 in connection with the scheme.

The Modi 3.0 Cabinet in its first meeting under the chairmanship of the prime minister had approved government assistance for the construction of three crore houses under PMAY.

It was the first meeting of the Union Cabinet of Modi 3.0 government held at the Prime Minister's 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence. The meeting was attended by ministers of all allies of the NDA.

"It has been decided in the Cabinet meeting today to provide assistance to three crore additional rural and urban households for the construction of houses to meet the housing requirements arising out of the increase in the number of eligible families," officials had said.

The government of India is implementing the PMAY since 2015-16 to provide assistance to eligible rural and urban households for the construction of houses with basic amenities.

Modi lauded the decision as a boost for "ease of living" and dignity for crores of Indians.

With PTI inputs