Work on over 10 lakh houses for urban poor to begin soon

New Delhi, Apr 1 (UNI) Funds are being released for construction of over 10 lakh houses across the country under the ambitious Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP) and Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) scheme of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

As many as 2,59,200 houses will be constructed under 422 projects of IHSDP and 7,87,111 houses under BSUP.

Under IHSDP, 422 Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) from 29 States had so far been approved with a total project cost of Rs.4009.90 crore and a Central Share commitment of Rs 2871.26 crore.

Against the approved first Installment of Rs 1435.64 crore, additional central assistance of Rs 1259.65 crore has been released by the Ministry of Finance.

Under BSUP, DPRs from 61 Mission Cities have so far been approved with total project cost of Rs 17421.11 crore (with Central share of Rs 8761.03 crore).

The Central Share constitutes 64.18 per cent of the allocation under the Mission indicated by the Planning Commission for 2005-12.

Against the approved Central share installments committed, additional central assistance of Rs 2127.74 crore has been released (as first installment and in some cases second) by the Ministry of Finance.

The Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme was launched by the Prime Minister in December 2005 for urban slum dwellers.

The existing Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY) and the discontinued National Slum Development Programme (NSDP) are subsumed in the IHSDP for holistic slum development.

The programme covers all the towns except the 63 mission towns/cities covered under the BSUP under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

The BSUP scheme was launched by the Prime Minister in December 2005 for the urban slum dwellers who are residing in dilapidated conditions in the identified 63 mission cities.

UNI NAZ SG KP1830