THE long-running political dispute between the BJP and Congress over the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in Chhattisgarh turned into a direct face-off on Tuesday, with Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma and former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel debating the issue at the Raipur Press Club. The open debate was organised after the two leaders accepted each other’s challenge. Both presented figures relating to housing approvals, construction, expenditure and the role of the Centre and State Governments. Sharma said 11.75 lakh houses under the scheme had been completed. He clarified that figures relating to housing targets cited during the previous Government pertained to a five-year period and not a single financial year. He claimed that financial sanction during the previous Government’s five-year tenure was around Rs 3,900 crore, while the present Government had spent Rs 16,000 crore in three years. Sharma said around three lakh houses were completed during the previous Government’s tenure and another three lakh houses had recently received approval. He also alleged that although the Centre had allocated 6.48 lakh houses for 2020-21, the State did not accept them. A major point of contention was the 7.81 lakh houses on the Permanent Wait List.

 

Sharma referred to communications from former Union ministers Narendra Tomar and Giriraj Singh, claiming that only around 81,000 of these houses were constructed and nearly seven lakh remained pending. He said the portal was closed at one stage during 2022-23 and was later reopened for re-approval. Baghel countered that PMAY was based on the 2011 Census and referred to the Awas Plus component. He said 2.32 lakh houses were sanctioned during the Raman Singh government in 2016-17, of which 2.29 lakh were constructed. He also claimed that the Centre’s closure of the portal in 2022-23 affected fund disbursement, while the State had raised loans and sought funds from the Centre. Baghel said the Sai Government in its first cabinet meeting on December 14, 2023 approved 18 lakh houses. He further cited approval of three lakh houses on January 10, 2025, 3 lakh 700 houses in Ambikapur on May 13, 2025, and 3.65 lakh houses approved on September 11, 2026. According to him, these approvals took the total number of new houses to around 28 lakh and, including earlier approvals, to 46 lakh. The debate, however, was conducted in a very civilized and pleasant manner, with the former Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister presenting their respective figures before the audience. However, it failed to provide a clear or conclusive picture. Listeners were left confused as both leaders presented a jumble of figures on the implementation of the PM Awas Yojana.