Guwahati, March 13: Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Thursday announced that the beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) will be able to avail the benefits for the same through the process of geotagging.

During a press meet Sarma claimed that the government has decided to open another round of geotagging to ensure that no eligible beneficiaries of the PMAY are excluded.

The Chief Minister added that approximately 30 lakh beneficiaries have been included under the PMAY in Assam and 3 lakh 80 thousand beneficiaries are to receive benefits from the PMAY on March 19 and another set of 3 lakh 80 thousand beneficiaries are to be benefitted in the later months.

He further highlighted that instead of officials from the Panchayat & Rural Development (P&RD) department, the local women in association with self-help groups will carry out the geotagging process.

“To keep the process fair and transparent, we have decided that instead of local women, the women from nearby villages will carry out the geotagging process,” Sarma said.

He further added that in case any eligible beneficiary missed out in the geotagging process, such individuals can carry out self geotagging or seek assistance from other people.

“This is the first time in the country that officials are not carrying out geotagging process. We have involved local people here. The government officials will only review the lists,” Sarma said

Geotagging is the process of adding geographic coordinates to media like photos, videos, and websites. Geotags can also include time stamps and other contextual information.

The Chief Minister said that following the finalisation of eligible beneficiaries under the PMAY, a gram sabha will be convened to agree on the same and give its greenlight. At later stages, block and district levels’ committee will be convened for the same.

“The district level committees will be formed with the guardian Minister,” Sarma said, adding that after this stage the final list of proposed beneficiaries will be forwarded to the central government.