New Delhi, Jul 22 (PTI) A total 15.15 per cent of beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) belong to religious minorities, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry told the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

In a written reply to a question, Minister of State for HUA Tokhan Sahu said that of the total beneficiaries from minority communities, around 13.45 lakh houses have been sanctioned to Muslims -- 12.74 per cent.

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According to the minister, 1,73,350 houses have been sanctioned to Christians, followed by Sikh -- 49,670 houses, Buddhist -- 19,707, Jainism -- 10,457, and Zoroastrianism -- 1,127.

Launched in June 2015, PMAY-U is implemented through states and Union Territories in the spirit of co-operative federalism, he said, adding, over 1.18 crore houses have been sanctioned under the scheme so far.

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"Of the sanctioned houses, 114.33 lakh have been grounded for construction; of which 85.04 lakh have been completed/delivered," Sahu said in the reply.

The scheme period, which was earlier up to March 31, 2022, has been extended till December this year, except Credit-Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) vertical of the scheme, to complete all the houses sanctioned without changing the funding pattern and implementation methodology.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)