Jammu, Mar 14 (IANS): The J&K Administrative Council, which met here under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, approved the proposal of the Housing and Urban Development Department to provide interest-free loan up to Rs 2 lakh to the urban houseless economically weaker section beneficiaries under Beneficiary Led Construction (BLC) component of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna-Urban (PMAY-U).

The beneficiaries under the BLC component of PMAY-U have experienced the difficulty in mobilising their contribution as they come from economically weaker sections and have to contribute higher share as compared to other States/UT, as a result of which the construction of dwelling units under this component of PMAY-U could not achieve the desired targets.

The beneficiaries of this component have demanded enhancement of assistance in their favour so that they can complete their houses within the targeted date of the mission. In view of practical difficulties faced by the beneficiaries in arranging financial resources, the government agreed to provide interest subsidy to all the eligible beneficiary.

The interest-free loan will be an additional benefit, over and above the financial assistance of Rs 1.66 lakh which is already being provided to the beneficiaries under the PMAY-U. With this the beneficiaries can now avail Rs 3.66 lakh for construction of their dwelling units.

The tenure of the BLC interest-free loan has been fixed at 10 years and includes a moratorium of six months, repayable through monthly installment of Rs 2,500.

At present the scheme will benefit 41,992 beneficiaries under this component.

The decision is a part of the government's resolve to provide affordable housing to the economically weaker section of the society and provide supplementary financial assistance so as to realise the vision of the Prime Minister by providing Housing For All by 2022.