The Central government on Saturday said that over 37,01,362 houses, under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), have been allocated to Bihar state since 2016.

According to the Ministry of Rural Development, headed by MoS Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, the state of Bihar has shown considerable improvement under PMAY-G. In Bihar, since the inception of the scheme on April 1, 2016, the central government has sanctioned 37,01,362 houses. Out of these, 36,58,471 are already constructed, standing at 99% completion.

This information was provided in the Rajya Sabha in response to a question posed by BJP MP Bhim Singh. The maximum number of houses sanctioned in Darbhanga district was 2.15 lakh, out of which 2.13 lakh were completed. On the other end, Sheikhpura district had the lowest number of sanctioned houses, with 21,348 sanctioned and 21,108 constructed.

These statistics provide insight into the extensive coverage and construction efforts carried out by PMAY-G in rural areas of Bihar. PMAY-G aims to achieve the goal of “Housing for All” in rural areas by 2024, constructing 2.95 crore proper houses with basic facilities.

Funds under the scheme are allocated to states based on proposals submitted by them, considering the needs of the beneficiaries, available unspent balances, and program guidelines. Beneficiaries are identified under PMAY-G using SECC 2011, applying housing deprivation parameters and exclusion criteria.

Gram Sabha meetings analyze and confirm the system-generated priority list of households, establishing a Permanent Wait List. Additionally, the Awaas+ survey conducted from January 2018 to March 2019 identified eligible households that missed out on the SECC 2011 list. These households have also undergone Gram Sabha verification and an appellate process to ensure the beneficiary list is complete.

The progress in Bihar has been a landmark in demonstrating the government’s commitment to achieving the objectives of PMAY-G, providing proper, secure, and adequate housing to rural households. The high rate of house completion reflects the effective implementation and monitoring of the scheme, bringing it closer to achieving the goal of “Housing for All.”

The Janata Dal (United) on Sunday announced the names of its candidates for all the 16 Lok Sabha seats it is set to contest in Bihar. The former party chief Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh to contest from Munger constituency.

The 16-candidates list includes names of Dileshwar Kamait from Supaul, Ramprit Mandal from Jhanjharpur, Devesh Chandra Thakur from Sitamarhi, Lavli Anand from Shivhar, Sunil Kumar from Balmiki Nagar, Mujahid Alam from Kishanganj, Dulalchandra Goswami from Katihar, Santosh Kumar from Purnea, Chandeshwar Prasad on Jehanabad seat, Kaushalendra Kumar from Nalanda seat, Giridhari Yadav from Banka, Ajay Kumar Mandal from Bhagalpur, Alok Kumar Suman from Siwan, Alok Kumar Suman from Gopalganj, and Dinesh Chandra Yadav from Madhepura constituency among others.

Lovely Anand, another turncoat, got the ticket from JD(U) after quitting the RJD earlier this month. She will be contesting the elections from Sheohar’s seat.

Addressing a press conference, JD(U) leader Lalan Singh said that there was no issue in deciding the seat-sharing formula and the candidates among the NDA partners. There was consensus over everything.

Speaking to a reporter, the former JD(U) chief expressed his gratitude to the Bihar Chief Minister for giving him the opportunity to contest from the Munger constituency again. The work that has been done by Chief Minister Kumar is discussed not only in the village but in every house in Bihar.

The Opposition party can pick anyone as a candidate from that very constituency, Munger, adding that he said that he doesn’t have to do anything with that, nor does he want to make any comment on the same, he said.

India’s largest road bridge being constructed over the Koshi River between Bheja and Bakaur in Bihar’s Supaul district collapsed on Friday morning, resulting in the death of one person and injured nine.

According to reports, the 10.2 km bridge was being constructed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) at a cost of Rs 984 crore. Two companies namely Gammon India and Trans Rail Lighting Limited were jointly overseeing its construction.

Speaking to reporters, NHAI Regional Officer YB Singh, said that the bridge has 171 piers, and the span between piers 153 and 154 collapsed.

Bihar Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha, speaking on the matter, said that an inquiry has been ordered and action will be taken against those responsible for the incident.

An accident has occurred on an under-construction bridge over the Kosi River. The portion of that bridge fell which led to the death of 1 person and 10 injured. The Deputy CM’s officials have spoken to the district officer. The deceased family will get Rs 10 lakh through related agencies, he announced. A full-fledged investigation is required to find who is the main culprit, he asserted.

Supaul District Magistrate Kaushal Kumar, speaking to media, said the injured are undergoing treatment at the district hospital. Today an unfortunate incident has happened wherein an under-construction span has collapsed, he added. As per the report, a total of 10 labourers were trapped in the incident and all were rescued. Unfortunately, one person died on the way to the hospital and the other 9 are out of danger with minor injuries. Adequate compensation for the deceased as well as injured victims is being arranged, he further added. 

Kumar said three eminent bridge experts A.K. Srivastava, Ex-ADG MORTH (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways), Mahesh Tandon and G.L. Verma, have reached the site to assess the reason for the accident and taken necessary remedial measures. Senior officials of NHAI (National Highway Authority of India) Anil Choudhary, Member (Projects) have rushed to the site to take immediate action on the matter, he added.