New Delhi, Jul 22 (IANS): As many as 2.63 crore houses have been constructed for the poor in the last nine years under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana, according to the Economic Survey released on Monday.

“The quality of life in the rural areas has progressed in terms of basic amenities, education, health, and financial inclusion. In terms of basic amenities, 11.57 crore toilets were constructed under the Swachh Bharat Mission - Grameen, while 11.7 crore households were provided with tap water connection under the Jal Jeevan Mission as of July 10, 2024,” the Survey stated.

In addition, 35.7 crore RuPay debit cards have been issued under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) as of June 26, 2024, leading to enhanced financial inclusion in the rural areas.

In the health sector, 1.58 lakh sub-centres and 24,935 primary health centres have resulted in the enhancement of quality of life in the rural areas, it added.

The Survey said that MGNREGS has made significant progress in terms of person-days generated and women participation rate with person-days generated increasing from 265.4 crore in 2019-20 to 309.2 crore in 2023-24 (as per MIS), and women participation rate increasing from 54.8 per cent in 2019-20 to 58.9 per cent in 2023-24.

The Economic Survey also pointed out that MGNREGS has evolved into an asset creation programme for sustainable livelihood diversification, as seen in the rise in the share of individual beneficiary ‘works on individual land’ from 9.6 per cent of total completed works in FY14 to 73.3 per cent in FY24.