Minister defends PMAY emblem on houses, says funds should not be withheld
Local Self-Governments Minister KM Shaji’s remarks defending the Union government’s insistence on displaying the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) emblem outside beneficiary houses have triggered a political row, with the Opposition accusing the government of abandoning the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) administration’s stand.The controversy erupted on Saturday, June 27, when the Minister said that PMAY funds should not be blocked over the issue of displaying the scheme’s emblem.“In PMAY, they said an emblem will be displayed outside the houses. Just because they keep an emblem, we should not block the money that people deserve. Even when the previous government gave allowances, they were not given by the CPI(M). The current allowances are not from the Congress either. In the same way, when the UPA government was in power, there were projects like the Indira Awas Yojana. Similar projects are being implemented now. We need not block them. We are not planning to engage in an unhealthy debate with the Union government,” he said on Saturday, June 27.Shaji’s stand marks a sharp departure from that of the previous LDF government, which had refused to implement PMAY, arguing that the mandatory display of the scheme’s emblem outside houses compromised the dignity of beneficiaries. Instead, the LDF implemented the Life Mission housing scheme, under which around five lakh houses were built over the last 10 years. The project was one of the flagship programmes of the previous government.Protesting against KA Shaji’s stand, CPI(M) leader and Rajya Sabha member AA Rahim said that the branding of PMAY will certainly affect the dignity of the beneficiaries. “It is a clear violation of their fundamental rights. This is a unilateral decision by the Union government and is highly condemnable. This issue has been a long-standing point of contention between the Kerala government and the Union government. Minister Shaji's stand is also condemnable, and we will be staging protests," AA Rahim told the media.In 2023, then Chief Minister and current Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan rejected the PMAY scheme, saying that Housing is a basic right of every human being and argued that it was not right to use it as an advertisement for the Union government and the Prime Minister. “These are people’s own houses, and their dignity should not be questioned by placing logos on them,” he had said.Following strong criticism, the Minister issued a clarification a day later, justifying the UDF government’s stand by saying that the PMAY emblem does not feature Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photograph.“In the logo displayed on PMAY houses, there is no photograph of the Prime Minister. The LDF government did not adopt the PMAY project because it did not have the money to provide the State’s share, not because of ideology. Around 1.2 lakh poor families will get houses under this scheme. Houses for the poor should not be held up by creating unnecessary controversies in the name of an emblem,” he said.
LOCAL Self-Governments Minister KM Shaji’s remarks defending the Union government’s insistence on displaying the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) emblem outside beneficiary houses have triggered a political row, with the Opposition accusing the government of abandoning the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) administration’s stand.
The controversy erupted on Saturday, June 27, when the minister said that PMAY funds should not be blocked over the issue of displaying the scheme’s emblem.
“In PMAY, they said an emblem will be displayed outside the houses. Just because they keep an emblem, we should not block the money that people deserve. Even when the previous government gave allowances, they were not given by the CPI(M). The current allowances are not from the Congress either. In the same way, when the UPA government was in power, there were projects like the Indira Awas Yojana. Similar projects are being implemented now. We need not block them. We are not planning to engage in an unhealthy debate with the Union government,” he said on Saturday, June 27.
Shaji’s stand marks a sharp departure from that of the previous LDF government, which had refused to implement PMAY, arguing that the mandatory display of the scheme’s emblem outside houses compromised the dignity of beneficiaries. Instead, the LDF implemented the Life Mission housing scheme, under which around five lakh houses were built over the last 10 years. The project was one of the flagship programmes of the previous government.
Protesting against KA Shaji’s stand, CPI(M) leader and Rajya Sabha member AA Rahim said that the branding of PMAY will certainly affect the dignity of the beneficiaries. “It is a clear violation of their fundamental rights. This is a unilateral decision by the Union government and is highly condemnable. This issue has been a long-standing point of contention between the Kerala government and the Union government. Minister Shaji's stand is also condemnable, and we will be staging protests," AA Rahim told the media.
In 2023, then Chief Minister and current Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan rejected the PMAY scheme, saying that housing is a basic right of every human being and argued that it was not right to use it as an advertisement for the Union government and the Prime Minister. “These are people’s own houses, and their dignity should not be questioned by placing logos on them,” he had said.
Following strong criticism, the minister issued a clarification a day later, justifying the UDF government’s stand by saying that the PMAY emblem does not feature Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photograph.
“In the logo displayed on PMAY houses, there is no photograph of the Prime Minister. The LDF government did not adopt the PMAY project because it did not have the money to provide the state's share, not because of ideology. Around 1.2 lakh poor families will get houses under this scheme. Houses for the poor should not be held up by creating unnecessary controversies in the name of an emblem,” he said.
