REPORT ON TREND AND PROGRESS OF HOUSING IN INDIA - JUNE, 1999
GOVERNMENT HOUSING INITIATIVES
8.1 The Government of India has taken it upon itself either on its own or in association with the State Governments the task of providing shelter under various schemes for the people in the poorest of the poor group and in some other segment of the population. The performance under these schemes are discussed below.
. Urban Housing
Night Shelter/Sanitation facility for urban footpath dwellers
8.2 This central scheme seeks to provide night shelter and sanitation facilities to footpath dwellers at a per capita cost of Rs.5000 with 20 % subsidy from the Central Government and 80 % as contribution from implementing agencies or through HUDCO loan. The scheme is being implemented through HUDCO. Till date HUDCO had sanctioned loans amounting to Rs.12.17 crore and Government subsidy amounting to Rs.12.41 crore for a total of 60 schemes to provide 18470 beds, 6814 pay and use toilet seats, 584 baths and 597 urinals.
Housing Scheme for Economically Weaker Section (EWS)
8.3 For providing housing to EWS, direct public sector investment is supplemented by the HUDCO loans upto the extent of 15 % of its resources. Refinance from National Housing Bank is also available to State, Co-operative and other organizations involved in EWS housing. For the 8th Five Year Plan, the income ceiling for EWS household under the scheme was raised to Rs.1250 per month.For the schemes financed by HUDCO, income limit is upto Rs.2100 per month and loan ceiling is Rs.25000 for construction and Rs.12500 for addition and repairs of EWS houses in urban areas. During the year 1998-99, about 0.59 lakhs dwelling units were constructed against the annual target of 1.18 lakhs dwelling units. The performance of the Scheme against the target allocated during the last five years is given below:
Year Target Achievement
1994-95 91,940 62,892
1995-96 72,778 1,13,646
1996-97 1,16,950 92,000
1997-98 1,68,075 81,592
1998-99 1,18,000 59,000
Source : Annual Report, Ministry of Urban Affairs & Employment
The above table indicates that the achievement fell short of the target in every year except during 1995-96. The achievement figures however, showed a mixed trend. While it increased during the 3 year period 1994-95 to 1995-96, it showed declining trends in the next three years.
Housing Scheme for Low Income Group (LIG)
8.4 The scheme is primarily a "Loan" scheme being executed by the State Governments through Housing Boards and Housing Departments. The budget provisions for the scheme are supplemented by the institutional finance. For the 8th five Year Plan the income eligibility for LIG household under the scheme was raised to Rs.1251-2650 per month. HUDCO loan component for this category of household is Rs.70,000 for construction and Rs.35000 for repairs and upgradation. During the year 1998-99, 41244 dwelling units have been constructed against the annual target of 57828 dwelling units. The performance of the Scheme against the target allocated during the last five years is given below:
Year Target Achievement
1994-95 40,305 19,028
1995-96 34,273 34,007
1996-97 62,000 26,000
1997-98 37,541 16,967
1998-99 57,828 41,244
Source : Annual Report, Ministry of Urban Affairs & Employment
The performance of the Scheme, however, remains a bit erratic over the years and no general trend can be obtained from it.
Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums [EIUS]
8.5 The policy of the Government lays emphasis on environmental improvement of urban slums rather than their massive clearance and relocation. The scheme envisages provision of seven basic amenities viz., water supply, sewerage, open drains with normal outflow avoiding accumulation of stagnant waste water, storm water drains, community baths & latrines, widening and paving of pathways, , street lighting and other community facilities to the slum dwellers. The programme is linked with the Urban Basic Services for poor and Nehru Rojgar Yojana by involvement of resident associations. During the 1998-99, 7.43 lakh slum dwellers have been covered under this scheme against the target of 43.30 lakh slum dwellers. The performance of the Scheme against the target allocated during the last five years is given below:
Year Target Achievement
1994-95 14,62,660 8,81,088
1995-96 15,88,871 17,40,819
1996-97 15,70,532 20,10,000
1997-98 11,89,898 8,84,822
1998-99 43,30,000 7,43,000
Source : Annual Report, Ministry of Urban Affairs & Employment
Barring the last 2 years, the performance of the Scheme shows a clearly positive trend in terms of achievement which exceeded the target in two consecutive years 1995-96 and 1996-97.
8.6 Besides, various projects relating to EWS housing and slum improvement in urban areas are being undertaken with the help of the overseas funds in collaboration with the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Employment. These projects are funded by Overseas Development Administration (ODA); Kfw of Germany; OECF of Japan, etc.
8.7 Further, the apex and primary cooperatives in different urban areas have also undertaken housing schemes with finance from the members and financial institutions. They are lending on an average Rs.300 crore per annum and achieving the construction of 1 lakh units annually. 72 % of the houses belong to low income and economically weaker sections.
8.8 NHB is also implementing refinance and direct lending schemes for slum improvement and low cost housing offering financial assistance at concessional rates of interest
. Rural Housing
8.9 Shelter is one of the basic requirements for human survival. For a shelterless person, owning a house endows him with an identity, thus integrating him with his peer group. The Census of 1991 estimates a total of 24.47 million houses to be constructed or upgraded to achieve the target of providing shelter to all in the rural areas by 2002 A.D. Of the above 24.47 million houses, 5.7 million houses have been added by various agencies till 31st March, 1997 and it is anticipated that by 2002 around 6.17 million houses will be added by different agencies. Thus the housing shortage to be tackled is 12.60 million houses of which 10.31 million houses need up-gradation and 2.29 million new houses will need to be constructed.
Indira Awas Yojana (IAY)
8.10 The Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY), launched in 1985-86 as a sub scheme of Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP) to provide houses free of cost to the members of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, freed bonded labourers in rural areas., was made an independent scheme by itself. IAY operates as a 100% subsidized centrally sponsored programme with the resources being shared on 80:20 basis between Centre and the States. The achievements under the IAY during the last 5 years is shown below:
Table 8.1: Achievements under Indira Awas Yojana
Year No. of Houses Amount (Rs. Crore)
Target Constructed Allocated Utilised
1994-95 353353 372275 437.69 174.26
1995-96 1000000 816393 1250.00 1058.14
1996-97 1123560 356855 1424.60 574.02
1997-98 718326 770936 1440.85 1591.48
1998-99 987466 835770 1854.62 1803.88
(Source: Annual Report, Ministry of Rural Affairs and Employment.)
8.11 Besides IAY, the National Agenda for Governance envisages construction of 13 lakh additional dwelling units in rural areas annually. An Action Plan for Rural Housing has accordingly been prepared which proposes to convert 103.1 lakh unserviceable kutcha houses to semi pucca/pucca houses with an aassistance of Rs.10000 per unit utilising 20% of the available funds for IAY.
8.12 In order to cater to the housing needs of households just above the poverty line who do not have the requisite level of repayment capacity to approach the housing finance institutions operating on the basis of market principles, a Credit-cum-Subsidy component of IAY is proposed which will be targeted to the group just above the poverty line having income limit of Rs.32,000 annually. The upper ceiling limit of assistance under this sub-scheme would be restricted to assistance limited under IAY(presently Rs.20,000/- for plain area and Rs.22,000/- for hilly/difficult areas). The subsidy (and similarly the loan amount) would be restricted to the 50% of the IAY limit. Under this scheme, initially, 3.5 lakh houses are proposed to be constructed annually. The budgetary support required for this sub-scheme would be around Rs.280 crore.
Other Initiatives
8.13 In order to address the problems of deteriorating habitat and non availability of quality infrastructure support services, an Innovative Stream for Rural housing and Habitat Development is proposed to be initiated. Under this scheme it is proposed to provide financial assistance for efforts initiated on a project basis by organizations such as HUDCO/BMTPC/Central Building Research Institute (CBRI)/NGOs etc.
8.14 To facilitate and coordinate the rural housing programme, through a multi-pronged approach of evolving strategies for extending the reach of housing finance in rural areas, sourcing of capital from both internal and external sources and the development of a menu approach for housing and habitat development, a Rural Housing and Habitat Development Corporation is proposed to be set up under the administrative control of the Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment. Dedicated to the cause of enabling the creation of quality and cost effective rural human settlements, this endeavour is expected to go a long way in achieving the goals of "Housing for All".