Maha assembly passes bill to amend Slum Areas Act

The Maharashtra Assembly today passed a bill amending the Slum Areas Act which will cover even non-eligible slum-dwellers under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) projects.
"As per the amendment bill, non-eligible slum dwellers can be incorporated into the SRA projects under the Prime Minister Awas Yojna (PMAY)," Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.
The bill passed today seeks to amend the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act 1971, which will pave the way for redevelopment of more slum pockets.
The scheme will benefit some 13.40 lakh slums and 19 lakh slum-dwellers in Mumbai.
"The government has used the Census 2011 data...so with the cut-off date, we can accommodate non-eligible slum-dwellers in the SRA scheme as per the density of population if possible (sic). They will be part of the scheme under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY)," Fadnavis said.

Under the PMAY scheme, one should not have any house in his name across the country.

"We will crosscheck whether a person owns a property in his name across the country which can be find out by linking with the Aadhar number," said Minister of State for Housing said Ravindra Waikar.
Fadnavis said the government has finalised the cut-off date of 2011 as per the data of slums and population available.
"The intention behind the amendment is to make Mumbai free of slums. It is seen that illegal tenants after eviction go to some other part of the city and raise slums for shelter. Hence, the government has decided to accommodate them in the SRA scheme to avoid spreading of new slums," added Waikar.