Housing for All : Focus on 15 states for 2019 target

Syed Ali Ahmed

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 20 

Union Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Venkaiah Naidu today announced a proposal to meet the target of “Housing for All” in 15 states and union territories, including HP, J&K and Chandigarh, by 2019. He also said the National Urban Rental Policy would be declared soon.

He said though the government intended to achieve the “Housing for All” target by 2022, it would be met in 15 states under the Prime Minister Awas Yojna (PMAY) (Urban) by 2019. The states under focus are HP, J&K, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura and union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Puducherry.

He said the 15 states and UTs had been asked to submit affordable housing proposals as per the demand survey by the year-end so that construction could 

be completed in next two years and other states had been asked to submit proposals by 2018.

He said the PMAY (Urban) had been extended to middle-income groups (people having annual income up to Rs 18 lakh).

To promote private investments in affordable housing campaign, Naidu said, the ministry is considering extending central assistance of Rs1.5 lakh to each eligible beneficiary belonging Economically Weaker Sections under projects taken up on private lands.