25 per cent of Asom's urban population lives under BPL

Shillong, Sep 18 (UNI) Asom Minister in-charge of Urban Development Dinesh Prasad Goala said here today that 25 per cent of Asom's urban population were living below the poverty line (BPL) as per a government survey.

Addressing the review conference on Housing and Urban Poverty alleviation at Hotel Polo Towers, Mr Goala said 7.40 lakh people were living below the poverty line in the urban fringes of the state.

These people are living in 88 Urban Local Bodies out of a total urban population of the state of 30 lakh, he said, adding that the problem has aggravated due to rural population migrating to the urban centers of the state.

To address this problem, Mr Goala said, ''We need housing, drinking water facilities complex to rehabilitate hawkers and vendors who are increasing in large number because of the migration.'' The Asom Minister also proposed that the Centre set up a state level institute for urban development in Guwahati to carry out planning and research for capacity building of representatives of urban bodies and mobilising resource. He requested the Centre to increase the allocation for various programmes under the ministry for Housing and Urban Poverty alleviation to help provide basic needs of such people.

Mr Goala also suggested the Centre to review and modified the Swarna Jayanti Sahari Rozgar, which was launched in December 1997.

This scheme has two components of self-employment and wage employment for BPL families living in urban areas.

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