34 towns of TS to benefit from Housing scheme

Hyderabad, Aug 30 (INN): Within two months of the launch of the Housing for All (Urban) Mission, 15 States have signed Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation committing themselves to implement six mandatory reforms essential for making a success of the housing mission in urban areas.

As many 305 cities and towns also have been identified in nine of these states for beginning construction of houses for the urban poor. By signing the MoA, the States have taken up the responsibility of implementing the six reforms which include: Doing away with the requirement of separate Non Agricultural Permission (NAP) in case land falls in the residential zone earmarked in the Master Plan of city or town; Preparing or amending Master Plans earmarking land for Affordable Housing; Putting in place a single-window-time bound clearance system for layout approvals and building permissions; Doing away with approvals below certain built up area/ plot size in respect of Economically Weaker Sections and Low Income Groups; Legislating or amending existing rent laws on the lines of the Model Tenancy Act circulated by the Ministry of HUPA and to provide additional Floor Area Ratio (FAR)/Floor Space Index/Transferable Development Rights (TDR) and relax density norms , for slum redevelopment and low cost housing.

The States that have agreed to implement the above reforms include Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana and Uttarakhand.

A total of 305 cities and towns in nine of these states have been identified for building houses for urban poor. These include Chattisgarh (36 cities/towns), Gujarat (30), Jammu & Kashmir (19), Jharkhand (15), Kerala (15), Madhya Pradesh (74), Odisha (42), Rajasthan (40) and Telangana (34).

The cities and towns of Telangana include Achampet, Adilabad, Armur, Bhongir, Bodhan, Dubbaka, Gajwel, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Husnabad, Huzurabad, Jammikunta, Jangaon, Karimnagar, Kollapur, Khammam, Mahaboobabad, Mahaboobnagar, Medak, Metpalle, Miryalaguda, Nagarkurnool, Nalgonda, Nirmal, Nizamabad, Palwancha, Sangareddy, Shadnagar, Siddipeta, Sircilla, Suryapeta, Vicarabad, Wanaparty,Warangal and Zahirabad.

Under the Housing for All initiative of the Central Government, names as 'Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 25 this year', 2 crore houses are targeted to be built for the poor in urban areas by the year 2022, coinciding with the 75 year of Independence.

Under this urban housing mission, central government will provide an assistance in the range of Rs.1.00 lakh to Rs.2.30 lakh per house under different components of the Scheme including In-situ redevelopment of slums using land as resource, Credit linked Subsidy Scheme, Affordable Housing in Partnership and Beneficiary led individual construction/improvement.

With the announcement of lists under Smart City Mission, AMRUT and Housing for All, there has been a clear convergence of implementation of the three schemes. The 9 states that have identified 305 cities for housing for urban poor, also account for 26 smart cities and 136 AMRUT cities. Of these, smart city mission, AMRUT and Housing Missions will be implemented in 25 smart city aspirants enabling convergence of schemes and resources of State and Central governments. In 136 AMRUT cities, housing projects will also be undertaken.

In case of Telangana, both the smart city aspirants of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporations and Warangal, AMRUT and Housing missions will be implemented. Similarly, in other AMRUT cities of Adilabad,Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahaboobabad, Miryalaguda, Nalgonada, Nizamabad and Suryapet, Housing for All mission will be implemented resulting in convergence.

Union Minister for Urban Development M.Venkaiah Naidu has welcomed this convergence. He said, 'This convergence of urban schemes helps in better utilization of resources resulting in visible improvement in urban areas. I am glad that state governments are resorting to convergence based approach as intended by the central government.'