Ramai Awas Yojana (Gharkul Scheme) for Scheduled Castes and Nav-Buddha, Rural and Urban

What is Ramai Awas Yojana?

Ramai Awas Yojana, widely known as the Ramai Awas Gharkul Yojana, is the Maharashtra state housing scheme for Scheduled Caste and Nav-Buddha (Neo-Buddhist) families. The Social Justice & Special Assistance Department has run the scheme since 2010-11 to give permanent, pucca houses to SC and Nav-Buddha households in both rural and urban Maharashtra.

According to the Social Justice & Special Assistance Department, Ramai Awas Yojana provides construction assistance of Rs 1.32 lakh in general rural areas, Rs 1.42 lakh in hilly and Naxal-affected rural areas, and Rs 2.50 lakh in urban municipal areas. Both rural figures include Rs 12,000 for a household toilet, funded through Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin).

Ramai Awas Yojana does not build houses through contractors. The approved beneficiary builds the house on their own plot and the grant is released in instalments by Direct Benefit Transfer as construction reaches verified stages. This is the same execution model used by the rural housing mission, and rural progress is monitored on the AwaasSoft system at pmayg.nic.in.

What the scheme sets out to do

• Replace kuccha huts and temporary shelters of SC and Nav-Buddha families with permanent houses.
• Reach both village households and slum or low-income urban households, which is why the scheme carries separate rural and urban components.
• Pair the house with a toilet, through the Rs 12,000 Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) component in rural areas.

Who is eligible for Ramai Awas Yojana?

You can be selected if:

• You belong to the Scheduled Caste or Nav-Buddha (Neo-Buddhist) category and hold a valid caste certificate from a Maharashtra competent authority.
• You have resided in Maharashtra for at least 15 years.
• You own a plot of land or an existing temporary (kuccha) house where the new house can be built.
• Your annual family income is within Rs 1.20 lakh if you live in a rural area, or within Rs 3.00 lakh if you live in a municipal corporation or municipal council area.
• No member of your family has previously taken a house under any other government housing scheme.

You are not eligible if:

• You do not belong to the SC or Nav-Buddha category, the scheme is restricted to these groups and other categories must apply under PMAY or the relevant corporation's housing scheme.
• You are completely landless with no plot and no existing structure, because the grant covers construction only.
• Your family has already received a house under Indira Awaas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana or any other government housing scheme.
• Your annual family income exceeds the Rs 1.20 lakh rural or Rs 3.00 lakh urban ceiling.
• Another member of your family has already been sanctioned a Ramai Awas house. The department gives the benefit to only one person per family.
• You have lived in Maharashtra for less than 15 years.

One important relaxation exists. Since March 2016, the 7/12 extract requirement has been relaxed for slum dwellers living on government land, so the absence of a formal land title does not automatically disqualify an urban slum household.

What documents are required for Ramai Awas Yojana?

Scan every document before submitting, because both the rural and urban systems require uploaded copies alongside the paper file.

How to apply for Ramai Awas Yojana in a rural area

1. Go to your Gram Panchayat office and ask for the Ramai Awas Yojana (Gharkul) application form for the current year's target.
2. Fill the form with your name as it appears in the caste certificate, attach self-attested copies of the caste certificate, income certificate, 7/12 extract or Namuna 8 property entry, 15-year residence proof, Aadhaar and bank passbook, and the undertaking that no family member has taken another government house.
3. Submit it to the Gram Sevak or Gram Panchayat clerk and get an acknowledgement with the inward number.
4. Attend the Gram Sabha where the list is read out. The Gram Sabha recommends beneficiary names to the block, so your presence when the list is discussed matters.
5. Wait for the House Construction Committee decision. The committee chaired by the Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officer makes the final rural selection against the district's sanctioned target.
6. Start construction after the sanction order and inform the Gram Sevak at each stage: plinth, lintel and roof — so the geo-tagged inspection can be recorded and the next instalment released to your account.

How to apply for Ramai Awas Yojana in an urban area

1. Visit the housing or social welfare section of your Municipal Corporation, Nagar Parishad or Nagar Panchayat and collect the Ramai Awas Yojana form.
2. Attach the same document set, with an urban income certificate showing annual family income within Rs 3.00 lakh and the property card, sale deed or, for slum dwellers on government land, the alternative occupancy proof the municipality accepts.
3. Submit the file at the municipal office and keep the receipt.
4. The House Construction Committee decides. For municipal corporation areas it is chaired by the Municipal Commissioner; for municipal council and nagar panchayat areas it is chaired by the District Collector.
5. Build after sanction and claim each instalment against verified construction stages.

How much assistance does Ramai Awas Yojana provide?

The higher rural rate for hilly and Naxal-affected blocks exists because material transport and labour cost more in those areas. Assistance is a grant, not a loan, and nothing is recovered from the beneficiary. Beneficiaries can add their own money or MGNREGA unskilled labour days on top, but the department's grant is capped at the figures above.

How to check your Ramai Awas application status

1. Ask at the Gram Panchayat for the Gram Sabha resolution and the approved beneficiary list for your village.
2. Ask at the Panchayat Samiti (block) office, which forwards the list to the Zilla Parishad committee.
3. For urban applicants, follow up with the housing section of the Municipal Corporation or Nagar Parishad that received your file.
4. Track construction-stage payments in your bank passbook. Rural houses are monitored on the AwaasSoft system at pmayg.nic.in, and the Gram Sevak can show your entry there.

Why Ramai Awas applications get rejected

• No plot or existing structure in the applicant's name, which the scheme requires because it funds construction only.
• A previous government house taken by any family member under Indira Awaas, PMAY or another scheme.
• Income above the ceiling; over Rs 1.20 lakh rural or Rs 3.00 lakh urban.
• Caste certificate issued outside Maharashtra or not from the competent authority.
• Residence short of 15 years in the state.
• A duplicate claim by a second member of the same family.
• District target exhausted. A file can be eligible and still wait, because selection is limited by the sanctioned target for the year. Such files are normally carried to the next Gram Sabha list rather than rejected outright.

If your name was left out of the Gram Sabha list, raise it in the next Gram Sabha and ask for the objection to be minuted. That minute is the record the block and Zilla Parishad act on.

Where to raise a Ramai Awas grievance

• Gram Sevak and Block Development Officer at the Panchayat Samiti for rural selection and instalment delays.
• Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Panchayat) and the Chief Executive Officer at the Zilla Parishad, who chairs the rural House Construction Committee.
• Assistant Commissioner, Social Welfare at the district level for scheme eligibility and caste-related questions.
• Municipal Commissioner or District Collector for urban cases, as chair of the urban House Construction Committee.
• Social Justice & Special Assistance Department, Government of Maharashtra, via the contact page on sjsa.maharashtra.gov.in.

Ramai Awas Yojana costs nothing to apply for. No middleman can add a name to the Gram Sabha list for a fee, and grant instalments are credited only to the beneficiary's own Aadhaar-seeded bank account.