Centre to set up National Shelter and Risk Fund

Hyderabad, Nov 18 (UNI) Union Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Kumari Selja today said the Centre was examining to set up ''National Shelter and Risk Fund'' to provide housing to all poor living in urban areas of the country.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of national conference on Housing and Human settlements here, Ms Shelja said the state governments have endorsed all the recommendations made in the draft 'National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy,' which would invite private sector to invest in housing under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

'PPPs is to be encouraged wherever non-viable investments are necessary through private sector,' she said.

Stating that the Centre would allocate more funds to meet the market demands in the housing after reviewing the present scenario, the Minister said innovative financing mechanisms would be put in place depending upon segmental needs, besides encouraging micro credit finance in housing to reach out to the poor.

Exhorting the state governments to handover the lands to the local authorities for construction of low income housing and civic amenities to the poor, she said the state governments should also create state-level 'Shelter' fund to ensure a dedicated mechanism for subsidising housing and to accelerate the supply of land and shelter to the poor.

She said the land owner should be made a stakeholder in any kind of acquisition of land and development of the site.

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