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Poverty Alleviation

No more urban poor, govt seeks other criteria to give away flats

Monday, 02 August 2010 10:40 administrator
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Indian Express     02.08.2010

No more urban poor, govt seeks other criteria to give away flats

Lalmani Verma Tags : housing, poor Posted: Mon Aug 02 2010, 01:57 hrs

Lucknow:  Despite relaxing eligibility norms repeatedly, the state government is yet to find enough urban poor for the thousands of flats constructed in the first phase of Kanshiram Shahri Garib Awas Yojna.

The scheme was announced by Chief Minister Mayawati in 2008 and in its first phase ¿ 2008-09 — over 1.01 lakh houses were to be constructed for the urban poor in 71 districts. But so far, only 98,338 flats have been constructed of which, 86,809 have been allotted. Now the state government has asked the concerned district magistrates to suggest relaxations in eligibility norms or steps that can be taken to find beneficiaries for the vacant flats.

Directives in this regard have been sent to districts including Mirzapur, Azamgarh, Bulandshahr, Ramabai Nagar, Aligarh, Jalaun, Mahoba, Lalitpur, Hamirpur, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Pilibhit and Saharanpur. In Mahoba, 1,500 flats have been constructed but only 830 flats have been allotted so far.

“The government has asked for necessary steps could be taken to increase the beneficiaries,” said Ravindra Kumar, Additional District Magistrate, Mahoba. “After 830, we have found another 512 beneficiaries but still have 160 vacant flats. With no more applications pending, we are now going to start a door-to-door survey to identify the poor in urban areas.” In just one lakh urban population of Mahoba, it is tough to identify the poor as per the eligibility criteria of the scheme, he added.

In Sant Ravidas Nagar, of the 1,500 flats constructed only 802 have been allotted. “We have recently found 150 beneficiaries but almost 500 will remain unallotted,” said District Magistrate Kanchan Verma.

“I have suggested that the government give the unallotted houses to poor widows and men living alone in rural areas,” she said. In Azamgarh, only 852 flats have been allotted so far against the 1,500 built. District Magistrate Manish Chauhan said: “We are facing a problem in finding urban poor in small town like Azamgarh. I have suggested to the state government that the unallotted flats be given to widows and physically-challenged persons even if they do not belong to the BPL category.”

So far, people living within municipal limits have been eligible for this scheme. “I have also recommended that the government permit the residents of Azamgarh Development Authority development area to apply under this scheme,” he said. A senior official in the government said as per the suggestions of the DMs, a proposal will be sent to the Chief Minister’s office, seeking further directives.

ALLOTTED SO FAR

Against the 1,500 flats constructed in each district

* 924 flats have been allotted in Pilibhit

* 1,015 in Jalaun

* 1,203 in Badaun

* 1,280 in Faizabad

* 1,064 in Mirzapur

* 1,320 in Barabanki

* 1,031 in Lalitpur

* 1,021 in Hamirpur

* 1,100 in Kanshiram Nagar

* 1,060 in Bulandshahr

* 758 in Saharanpur

* 1,080 each in Balia and Mau

* In Ramabai Nagar, 1,000 flats were constructed but only 521 have been allotted

Last Updated on Monday, 02 August 2010 10:46
 

FE Editorial : Start on stats

Friday, 30 July 2010 11:00 administrator
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The Financial Express  30.07.2010

FE Editorial : Start on stats

The reported move by the ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation to introduce a housing start-up index that will measure the construction of housing projects is welcome. The much-needed index, likely to be introduced in December this year, was first suggested by RBI two years ago. Then the National Buildings Organisation under the ministry was deputed to collect data on building permits issued for new residential buildings in various cities. But the work for creating the index went into limbo because of data collection issues. Such an index, which exists in countries like the US, the UK, Germany, Canada and Australia, will help all stakeholders to gauge the demand and supply in the housing market. Housing starts are also considered a lead indicator of economic activity because of their strong forward and backward linkages with other sectors, and will help policymakers understand the pace of economic activity, investment trends geographically and consumer optimism on new housing. The index will also become an important input in monetary policy and help authorities detect property bubbles in their early stage. An early warning in case of a bubble can help home buyers take informed decisions on purchases and pay a realistic price for the property. The buyer and the seller can compare the index price with the offer price and this would help to keep speculators at bay.

Timely and quality data on housing starts can help companies in industries like steel and cement—the two most important raw materials for housing—plan their inventory and capacity addition. The cement industry is challenged with overcapacity at the moment—a situation that has been carried over from the time there was a sharp slowdown in construction activity after the crisis. The index, when in place, can help check such misallocation of private resources. The index will also be useful for developers, help them to ascertain the risk of building in a particular area and prevent them from entering a location where there is excessive construction and saturated demand. However, the success of the housing start-up index will depend on the accuracy of data collection, coding and processing. Checks must be performed on the data quality and municipalities will have to ensure that they keep data in digital form, which will lower the risk of reporting errors.

Last Updated on Friday, 30 July 2010 11:36
 

Minister to inaugurate flats for urban poor

Friday, 30 July 2010 05:23 administrator
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The Hindu 30.07.2010

Minister to inaugurate flats for urban poor

Staff Reporter

The new residential complex has been built at a cost of

Rs. 1.53 crore in record time.

KOCHI: The inauguration of 36 flats in a four-storied building in Kakkanad on Friday by Minister for Forests and Housing Benoy Viswom marks yet another landmark for the Kerala State Housing Board, which has been the pioneer in the State for providing housing for the economically weaker sections of the society.

The new residential complex, built at a cost of Rs. 1.53 crore in record time, is a great step towards finding homes for the poor urban workers from distant places, who are forced to stay within the city limits for their jobs.

On 18 cents of land

Housing Board's Regional Engineer James Jacob said that the residential complex, the first of a pair, has come up on 18.23 cents of land available with the Housing Board under Vazhakkala Village, at Kakkanad.

The complex has nine residential flats, each having a plinth area of 268 sq. ft., in each floor. Each of the units has a bedroom, a hall, kitchen and toilet.

Facilities like water and electricity supply; rainwater harvest, motors and pumps have been provided for along with road and drainage.

When the State Government approved the project in December 2008, one of the conditions was that 33 per cent of the space should be reserved for women workers.

Homeless families coming under the BPL category; widows, divorcees and unmarried women under the BPL category; women workers under BPL category, who are forced to travel from distant places to the city on a daily basis for their work are eligible to apply for the allocation of the flats.

The allotment of the flats will be in the joint name of husband and wife. In the case of flats reserved for women, it will be in their name.

Applications for allotment of the flats can be made in the prescribed format to be made public through newspaper advertisements.

Allotment

The allotment will be made by a committee comprising the Chairman/Secretary of KSBH; ward member of the Local Body in which the scheme is situated; District Social Welfare Officer; president of the local body in which the scheme is located; Councillors in the local bodies and Executive Engineer of the Housing Board.

The Allotment Committee may co-opt more members but at least two of the members have to be women.

Monthly rent

The monthly rent for the flat varies between Rs. 300 and Rs. 600 for the various categories and the advance amount has been fixed as three months' rent.

Last Updated on Friday, 30 July 2010 05:28
 
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