5L Homeless In J&K To Get Digs Under PM's Awas Yojna

SRINAGAR: The Centre has identified as many as half a million homeless people in Jammu and Kashmir who will soon secure living accommodation under Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana, a credit-linked subsidy scheme by the Government of India to facilitate access to affordable housing for the low and moderate-income residents of the country.

Announcing this at a press conference here on Thursday, Union minister for Agriculture, Farmers’ Welfare, and Rural Development, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, said that 93 percent of houses under the scheme have been completed, and the remaining eligible beneficiaries—identified from a pool of 500,000 applicants—will be allotted homes after verification.

Stating that the Prime Minister has decided that those who are still without homes will be given permanent shelter, Chouhan said, “A survey has been conducted to identify the beneficiaries, and once verification is completed, housing allotment will begin. Verification is important so that no ineligible names are included.” He added the work will be started soon to ensure every eligible individual in J&K gets a permanent roof.

Earlier during the day, the minister reviewed agriculture and rural development initiatives in J&K during a meeting with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah held at the Civil Secretariat here.

Chouhan said that a developed J&K is crucial to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a ‘Viksit Bharat’. He said that, in this backdrop, several important decisions were taken in the interests of farmers and rural residents of the region at the meeting.

He said that agriculture remains the backbone of the economies of J&K as well as the rest of the country, with nearly 50 percent of the population depending on it for livelihood. He praised J&K’s initiative ‘Kisan Khidmat Ghar’ — a one-stop center providing farmers access to all agricultural services under one roof.

Chouhan expressed satisfaction with the variety of horticulture crops grown in the region, such as apples, almonds, and walnuts. However, he also raised a critical issue — imported plant materials often turn out to be infected after two or three years. He said that in order to address this, a ₹150-crore Clean Plant Center will be established in Srinagar under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH).

“It will focus on clean, disease-free planting material for apples, almonds, walnuts, and berries. Private nurseries will also be supported to ensure high-quality, pathogen-free plants are made available to farmers,” the minister said.

He also stated that farmers in J&K who have received land allotments from the government but lack official documentation will be considered for inclusion under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme. “The government is also planning to launch the Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) soon to ensure that horticulture crops are accurately mapped and included under the PM Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY),” he said.

Commenting on the demand for a regional horticulture center in the Jammu region, Chouhan announced that ICAR would support Jammu Agricultural University with the required infrastructure. The minister further said that the current storage limit in CA (Controlled Atmosphere) facilities would be extended from 18 months to 24 months. He added that, for the horticulture mission, subsidies will be provided for up to a storage capacity of 5,000 metric tons, and even those who have constructed facilities with 6,000 MT capacity will be eligible for subsidy up to 5,000 MT.

Highlighting ‘saffron’ as a symbol of Kashmir’s identity, the minister announced that the Central government would establish a tissue culture lab and nursery to boost saffron production. He said the National Saffron Mission would be revised to suit local conditions, and an expert team of scientists would be formed to improve productivity and reduce losses.