Centre to allocate Rs 50,000 cr to achieve slum-free country

Kolkata, Jun 22 (UNI) With the vision to achieve slum-free cities and ensuring basic amenities to the urban poor in the country by 2012, the Centre will provide assistance to the tune of Rs 50,000 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission(JNNURM).

Announcing this, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja today said that the mission would cover all basic amenities like shelter, water, sanitation, education, health and social security to the urban poor, including slum dwellers.

The Minister said that she has personally written letters to all the Chief Ministers of all the states in the country to design a time bound action plan under JNNURM to achieve the vision of slum-free cities.

JNNURM is the single largest national initiative ever launched in the history of the country to address the issues of the urban infrastructure and basic services to the poor in the cities and towns.

The Centre would provide all possible assistance to West Bengal under JNNURM to attain the similar goal.

''The state government will be able to attain the goal of slum- free West Bengal in a period of next 5-7 years,'' the minister said while addressing a Review Meeting-cum-Workshop here.

She informed that her ministry has already sanctioned around Rs 1,160 crore under Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP) programme and Rs.260.85 crore under Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP) to West Bengal.

Apart from that a total grant of about Rs. 556.54 crore under BSUP and Rs.194.31 crore under IHSDP had also been committed to the state. Ms Selja said.

Speaking on the occasion, State Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Minister Ashok Bhattacharya said that the state government had sanctioned the construction of 73 thousand housing units.

He informed that in the 11th plan period the state govenment would build two lakh housing units and one lakh among them would be built in the first three years.

Union secretary for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation H S Anand was also present on the occasion.

UNI