MP, Tamil Nadu among 5 top states in sheltering urban homeless

Rajasthan, UP, West Bengal, also feature in top-5 list; Telangana, Andhra, Mizoram fare well in respect of providing functional shelters

Tamil Nadu is among five states that are in the forefront of providing shelter for the urban homeless, under the 'National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM). The other states include Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, while Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Mizoram fare well in respect of functional shelters.

Under NULM, construction of a total of 358 new shelters has been sanctioned, along with refurbishment of another 149. Besides, 263 shelters are being offered operation and maintenance support under the Mission across 20 states.

This was revealed by Babul Supriyo, Minister of State for Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, in a written reply to Dr Gokaraju Gangaraju and Shri Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy in the Lok Sabha today.

 

The minister also said that 270 such shelters are in operation in nine states.

Under the 'Shelters for Urban Homeless' component of NULM, 75 per cent of the cost of construction of new shelters and refurbishment of existing ones was provided as central assistance by the Ministry of HUPA. Each shelter was also getting assistance of Rs 6 lakh a year, towards operation and maintenance costs.

NULM was renamed as 'Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-NULM' last week.

Of the 770 shelters receiving central support under NULM, Madhya Pradesh leads with 133, followed by Tamil Nadu (95), Rajasthan (87), Uttar Pradesh (72), West Bengal (50), Bihar (48(, Telangana (41), Jharkhand (35), Mizoram (35) and Andhra Pradesh (31).

Of the 270 shelters for urban homeless in nine states, Madhya Pradesh again leads with 100, followed by West Bengal (37), Tamil Nadu (33), Mizoram (33), Telanagana (24), Andhra Pradesh (23), Maharashtra (14) and Karnataka and Rajasthan (3 each).

Under NULM, an expenditure of Rs 77.36 crore has been incurred on sheltering urban homeless since financial year 2014-15.