Bihar to Provide Free Housing to Unmarried Adults Under PM Awas Yojana

The Bihar government has expanded the scope of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G). This announcement comes just before the Bihar state assembly elections 2025 and is expected to garner support from the rural youth.

Now, unmarried adults who are surviving without the parents will be treated as separate families and thus eligible for free housing under the PMAY-G scheme. This will enable housing benefits to thousands of rural individuals across the state who were previously excluded due to the definition of “family” in the scheme.

We have covered everything about the government’s latest housing scheme decision in this article including the updated eligibility guidelines, and the verification process. You can use the following Table of Contents to navigate as per your preference:

Unmarried Adults Will be Considered as Separate Families

Bihar’s Rural Development Department has officially announced that now, unmarried adults without living parents will be considered as individual family units under the PMAY-G.

Earlier, the definition of “family” describe a unit which consisted of a husband, wife, and their unmarried children. Due to this, individuals who had lost both of their parents over living alone were left out. But the definition has been changed now. This decision has been approved by the Bihar state cabinet as well.

Massive Surveys to Identify Beneficiaries

To implement the new guidelines, the department has already initiated a massive verification process. Till now, around 1,04,90,000 families have been listed for verification across Bihar. The final list will be verified after community+level consultations.

The verified list will be discussed and confirm in Gram Sabha meetings where consent from villagers will be taken for the same. This will ensure transparency and eliminate errors in identifying eligible beneficiaries. This will also ensure that the rules are not misused.

11 Criteria That Will Disqualify Applicants

The Bihar government has officially released list of 11 exclusion criteria that would disqualify applicants. This makes sure that while the scheme has been expanded, it must not we misused.

Individuals aur families who meet any of the given conditions will not be eligible for benefits under PMAY-G :

• If you own a pucca (concrete) house.
• If you own a motorised two-wheeler, three-wheeler, or four-wheeler
• If you own mechanised agricultural equipment
• If you hold a Kisan Credit Card with a credit limit of ₹50,000 or more
• If anyone in your household is a government employee
• If anyone in your household pays income tax
• If any family member once more than ₹15,000 monthly.
• If you are registered as an non-agricultural enterprise
• If anyone from your household pays business tax
• If you / your household owns more than 2.5 acres of irrigated land
• If you / your household owns more than 5 acres of non-irrigated land

These conditions have been laid out to make sure that only the individuals and families who are genuinely needy get benefits of the housing assistance. If someone gives wrong information about the above mentioned criteria, then he/she will get rejected/black-listed from the scheme. The verification will be very strict and in multiple levels.

Conclusion

The Bihar government has announced this just before the elections and that’s why people are seeing this has an election stunt. But, the verification process for more the 1 crore families is already under process, which shows the government’s commitment towards welfare schemes. With is the inclusion of orphaned unmarried adults in the PMAY-Gramin scheme, the ruling party is not leaving any gaps to showcase their developmental work. But instead of focusing on the timing, we should appreciate the government’s initiative of supporting genuine needy beneficiaries.

In a similar move, the social security pension has also been increased from ₹400 to ₹1100. If you missed that report, you can read it here.

Shiv Bhardwaj

I’m a final-year engineering student with a deep interest in current affairs, politics, and international issues. Writing news is my part-time passion, where I focus on sharing credible and well-researched stories. Every article I publish is backed by verified sources and multiple levels of fact-checking to ensure accuracy and trustworthiness.