New Delhi, (PTI) The government has been working to free the housing sector of corruption and middlemen to ensure people get their own houses without facing troubles, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today.

He also said that use of latest technology is ensuring faster building of houses for the poor in rural and urban areas at affordable cost.

"We have been working to free the housing sector from middlemen, corruption and ensuring that the beneficiaries get their own home without hassles," Modi said while addressing beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) through video conference.

He also said the housing sector is being invigorated with the latest technology. "This is enabling faster construction of affordable houses for the poor in towns and villages," the prime minister said.

Modi said the focus is to ensure more women, 'divyang' (differently-abled) , people from SC, ST, OBC and minority communities get access to housing.

"PMAY is linked with dignity of our citizens. Due to PMAY, there are employment opportunities being created for the people. At the same time, we are working on skill development to enable faster and better quality construction of the houses," he said.

In the last four years, the government has taken a mission mode approach towards providing housing for all, the prime minister said while addressing the beneficiaries.

He also said that the government was working towards ensuring that every Indian has a home by 2022, when India will celebrate its 75 years of Independence.

Under the PMAY, the government plans to build around three crore houses in rural areas and one crore houses in urban areas, Modi said.

The government has so far given sanctions to build more than 47 lakh houses in urban areas, which is four times more than the sanctions given by the previous government in 10 years.

Similarly, sanctions have been given to build more than one crore houses in the rural areas compared to 25 lakh sanctions by the previous government in its last 4 years, Modi said.

The government has also been able to reduce the time needed to build a house from 18 months to 12 months, thereby saving about 6 months, he said.

Emphasising on the changes brought by the present government in the PMAY, the prime minister said that the size of houses built have been increased to 25 square metre from 20 square metres.

The financial assistance for the scheme has also been enhanced up to Rs 1,25,000 from the earlier allocation of Rs 70,000 - Rs 75,000, he said.

The prime minister has been interacting with beneficiaries of various central schemes.