Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Initiatives: Housing for All

Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Initiatives: Housing for All

Question: Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation is involved in several welfare initiatives to ensure housing for all in urban areas. Discuss and provide an outline of these initiatives.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation is concerned with the formulation of urban housing policy and programmes

This ministry also implements specific urban employment and poverty alleviation programmes

Here are some of the major initiatives of this ministry:

Housing for All Urban Mission

- HFA(Housing For All) Urban Mission was launched to address housing requirements of urban poor such as slum dwellers

- Mission has established a goal of construction of around 2 crore houses by 2022

- It provides a grant of INR 1 lakh per house for rehabilitating eligible slum dwellers with private developers using land as a resource

- Credit linked interest subsidy at 6.5% is provided for underprivileged sections of society

- Central assistance of INR 1.5 lakh per house in EWS segment for beneficiary led individual house construction/enhancement

- Share of informal to total employment in residential construction is the second highest next only to agriculture

- For INR 1 lakh investment in residential construction, INR 2.84 is added to GDP while INR 0.12 gets collected as indirect tax

- Economic activity put forth by Housing For All Urban Mission will bear multiplier income and employment effects

- It will provide an economically productive and inclusive society

- Mission lays down necessary conditions including system to provide single window, timely clearance for layout approval and building permissions at ULB level and deemed building permission and layout approval on basis of pre approved layouts and plans for buildings

National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy 2007

This policy is being revised.

- Model State Affordable Housing Policy as well as Rental Housing Policy and draft Model Tenancy Act will have many consequences

National Urban Livelihoods Mission

- This represents a paradigm shift from employment to enhancing employability

- Primary target of NULM is the urban poor including urban homeless and mobilisation of weaker sections of the population such as SC, STs, minorities, female led households, disabled persons, destitute, migrant labour, street vendors, rag pickers, domestic workers and beggars as well as construction workers

- Mission also provides help to urban street vendors through facilitation of access to suitable spaces, institutional credit, social security and skills for tapping emerging market opportunities

- Protecting rights of urban street vendors is also the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 aimed at creating a conducive atmosphere where street vendors are able to carry out their business with fairness and accountability

Facts and Stats

- India in association with UN HABITAT has organised the First Asia Pacific Minister’s Conference on Housing and Urban Development in 2006

- Aim is to provide sustainable housing and urban development in Asia Pacific region

- As per the Seoul Declaration, the next conference will be held in New Delhi

- Road map is being worked out with the National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad for tracking through geo tagged photos the progress of housing construction