SP govt plans housing scheme for urban poor

While the state government has claimed that scheme will benefit minorities and the poor from the general category,backward castes and scheduled castes,sources said that minorities will be the main target of the scheme and houses will be constructed in cities with high density of Muslim population.

The scheme will be run by Urban Development Department and State Urban Development Agency (SUDA) will be the implementation agency.

About the criteria of selection of beneficiaries,officials said the Centre is conducting a countrywide survey of the poor,which is likely to be complete in two months. In UP,the survey has already been completed in 52 districts including Lucknow,Kanpur,Agra,Meerut,Moradabad.

“Beneficiaries will be selected from the list of the poor identified in the Centre’s survey. Minorities will be given preference,” said Shiva Shankar Singh,director of SUDA.

“Districts will be selected for construction of houses according to the population of urban poor according to the survey. Districts with high density of Muslim poor will be given priority,” said another urban development official.

The SUDA director said there would be no reservation for any caste category and poverty will be the only eligibility criteria for the scheme.

The Aasra scheme seems to be a replacement of Kanshiram Shahri Garib Awas Yojna,which the Mayawati government had launched in 2008-09. The government had reserved 50 per cent houses for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Each dwelling unit was constructed over 30 square metres with two rooms,a kitchen,toilet-bathroom and a verandah. Community centres and parks were developed in these housing schemes.

In the Aasra scheme,houses will be constructed in G+2 (ground,first and second floor) units. Each dwelling unit of 25 square metres will include a single room with a kitchen,toilet-bathroom and a verandah.

The construction cost of each of these units is estimated to be Rs 2.5 lakh. Officials said the target has been kept low because most of the urban poor have already benefited under schemes such as Basic Services for Urban Poor,Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme and Kanshiram Shahri Garib Awas Yojna.

The Akhilesh government had scrapped the Kanshiram Shahri Garib Awas Yojna along with 25 other schemes of the Mayawati government at a cabinet meeting on May 11.

In the first phase of Kanshiram Shahri Garib Awas Yojna,free houses were provided to around 1 lakh beneficiaries across the state. In the second phase,around 42,000 houses were constructed. In the third phase,the Mayawati government set a target of 42,484 houses in 62 districts. Around Rs 1,150 crore was required for the scheme and the state government released Rs 200 crore last year.

The new government on May 28 revised the target to 26,597.