Aiming at making cities slum-free across the country, the Centre will soon announce a Rs 6,000-crore grant for construction of over 200,000 houses under the Rajiv Awas Yojna, as a pilot project.
The project envisages construction of over 200,000 housing units with basic infrastructure across the country. Each unit, estimated to cost about Rs 3 lakh, will consist of two rooms, kitchen, bathroom and a lavatory, along with electricity and water facilities.
“The Rs 6,000-crore grant for construction of houses with all basic amenities under the Rajiv Awas Yojna (RAY) as a pilot project will be announced after Cabinet approval shortly,” a senior Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) Ministry official said.
Launched in June 2009, RAY — a flagship programme of the UPA-II — is meant to make India slum-free.
“It took almost two years to prepare the scheme after the announcement of RAY. Now the implementation stage has come,” the official said.
There is a shortage of 25 million housing units in the country and the government intends to construct about 10 million houses under RAY. GIS mapping has been done to identify slums in cities.
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“The sanction of Rs 6,000 crore for RAY is being announced in the last year of the 11th Five-Year Plan. More grant would follow in the 12th Plan,” the official said.
According to the scheme, 50 per cent of the cost of construction would be borne by the Centre and the rest by the state government, the urban local body and the beneficiary.
In order to avail of the central grant, a state government has to pass the Properties Rights Act or to undertake the commitment to legislate it within a year.