Centre will come out with new Urban Housing Policy : Selja

Bangalore, May 24 (UNI) The UPA Government will come out with a new Urban Housing Policy to ensure shelter to the poor living in cities and towns, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja today said.

''Under the policy it is proposed to earmark 15 per cent of land for economically weaker sections and 25 per cent of the houses constructed under various Centre and State projects reserved for poor people with low income,'' she added.

Stating that Public-Private Participation (PPP) was a must for success of any mission, she said private sector should be made to contribute for the successful implementation of the Policy.

The State Governments should evolve methods to rope in private sector. 'When huge projects are taken up by the private sector, can't they contribute a little to the poor?'' she asked.

Replying to a question, the Minister said the Draft of the policy was ready and the notification might be issued soon.

Ms Selja said the Delhi Development Authority had taken a lead by involving private sector in the implementation of various housing projects and other States should emulate it.

Earlier, laying the foundation stone for construction of 1,000 houses at a cost of Rs 15.21 crore under the Jawaharlal National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and handing over 163 houses constructed by Karnataka Slum Clearance Board, she said the State government's should maintain utmost transparency while selecting the beneficiaries.

The Minister called upon the State Governments to take full advantage of various schemes of the Union Government and ensure that the poor and the downtrodden were provided shelter.

She said urbanisation was increasing at a faster pace in the developing world and in India, over 300 million people were living in urban areas.

Stating that there was overwhelming response from the States to JNNURM launched in 2005, she said more than 1,000 projects were approved throughout the country at a total cost of over Rs 35,000 crore in which the Central government's share was Rs 19,778 crore.

Asserting that the Union Government was committed to improving the living conditions of the urban poor and slum dwellers, she said 'Let the Governments, NGOs, private sectors and citizen forums work together to achieve the goal.' UNI