Chapter 25

Housing
NATIONAL HOUSING AND HABITAT POLICY
HOUSING is a state subject, but, the Union Government is responsible for
the formulation of policy with regard to programmes and approaches for
effective implementation of the social housing schemes, particularly those
pertaining to the weaker sections of the society. A new Housing and Habitat
Policy 1998 has been formulated to address the issues of sustainable
development, infrastructure and for strong public private partnership for
shelter delivery. The policy was approved and laid before Parliament on
29 July 1998. The objectives of the policy are to create surpluses in housing
stock and facilitate construction of two million additional dwelling units each
year in pursuance of National Agenda for Governance. It also seeks to ensure
that housing along with supporting services is treated as priority sector at
par with infrastructure. The central theme of the policy is strong public
private partnerships for tackling housing and infrastructure problems. The
Government would provide fiscal concessions, carry out legal and regulatory
reforms and create an enabling environment.
The problem of housing shortage compounded with the population
explosion has also been addressed by this policy. This document clearly
identifies the respective roles of the Central Government, the State government,
local authorities, financial institutions, research standardization and technical
institutions.
However, since housing being a state subject, the State
governments have to play the primary role in formulating specific action plans
and programmes suited to local needs and conditions in consultation with local
bodies and citizen groups. The National Agenda for Governance has identified
Housing for All as a priority area, with particular emphasis on the needs of
the vulnerable groups. As per this programme, it is proposed to facilitate
construction of 20 lakh additional units every year, with emphasis on EWS and
LIG sections of the population as also the needs of SC/ST and other vulnerable
groups. Out of 20 lakh additional houses, seven lakh houses will be
constructed in the urban areas and remaining 13 lakh in the rural areas. This
would require an additional investment of around Rs 4,000 crore.
HOUSING FINANCE
The following initiatives have been taken recently as part of implementation of
National Housing and Habitat Policy: (a) An Action Plan has been drawn up to
achieve the target of Shelter for All enunciated in the National Agenda for
Governance. Construction of seven lakh additional dwelling units in urban
areas will be facilitated by the Government by providing fiscal and technological
support. It will require all-round involvement of private sector/cooperatives

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and NGOs/CBOs; (b) The National Housing Bank set up in 1988 as a
subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India, is functioning under administrative
control of the Banking Division of Department of Economics Affairs. It is
supervising and controlling various HFIs. So far it has recognised 25 HFIs; (c)
Allocation by Life Insurance Corporation/General Insurance Corporation for
direct and indirect finance for housing has been increased; (d) During 1998-99
HUDCO sanctioned loan worth Rs 6,666.67 crore. Loan released during the
same period was Rs 3,200.68 crore. More than 98 per cent dwelling units
financed by HUDCO are for economically weaker sections and low-income
groups. As on 31 March 1999 over 85.58 lakh dwelling units have been
sanctioned under various housing schemes of the HUDCO of which over 48
lakh units are in rural areas. In addition, over four lakh developed plots and 48
lakh sanitation units have been sanctioned till that date. Loan disbursement
target as per MoU 1999-2000 for 1999-2000 is Rs 1,400 crore for housing
schemes including Government Action Plan Schemes. HUDCOs contribution
to the two million Housing Programme has been significant. HUDCO has
sanctioned a loan assistance of Rs 1,874 crore for construction of 10.65 lakh
units, against its target of 10 lakh units under the programme. HUDCO has
supported 4.30 lakh units in urban areas against four lakh units assigned and
6.35 lakh units in rural areas against the target of six lakh units; and (e) As an
Action Plan item, Night Shelter Scheme for Footpath Dwellers is being
implemented as a Centrally-sponsored scheme in the metropolitan and other
major urban centres. Since April 1991 and as on 31 March 1999, 65 schemes
benefitting about 30,000 footpath-dwellers have been sanctioned by HUDCO
in various parts of the country.
BUILDING MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY INPUTS IN HOUSING
SECTOR
Technology application is a crucial input in housing. Building materials
account for 65 to 75 per cent of the total cost of construction. The demand
for building materials has been continuously rising with the increasing need
for housing both in rural and urban areas. Inadequate technology extension
facilities, lack of coordination and promotion programmes at the Central and
State government levels to support production ventures are some of the
issues receiving attention of the Government. In the rural areas the problem
is more severe due to decreasing access to traditional materials such as
timber, bamboo, thatch which mostly form part of biomass. Commercial
exploitation by various industries has aggravated the situation. A change
in policy is, therefore, essential to give due priority to shelter construction
through better availability of alternate materials at affordable prices and by
minimising commercial exploitation of biomass.
In this context, the following initiatives have been taken: (a) As part
of the Ninth Plan exercise, the demand and likely shortage of some of the
major building materials have been estimated along with the potential for
production of alternative building materials. Some more fiscal concessions
for innovative and cost-effective building materials had been granted in 19992000 budget; (b) The Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council
(BMTPC) has been functioning as a registered society under the aegis of the

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Ministry of Urban Development to provide for an appropriate platform for
technology identification, validation, transfer, application in the shelter sector
and promoting large-scale commercial production of innovative building
materials. The Council has taken a lot of initiatives in utilisation of fly-ash
and other wastes, introduction of new specifications by CPWD and BIS and
to increase the entrepreneurs interface with the financial institutions and
research agencies. A number of flyash based building materials production
units in various parts of the country are being set up; (c) Some of the
technologies and new materials and components already tested and
manufactured on a pilot scale have been identified for large-scale extension;
(d) A network of Building Centres has been set up as a Centrally-sponsored
scheme through HUDCO to train artisans and others for transfer of
appropriate technology to rural and urban areas. As on 31 March 1999,
Administrative approval has been given for 624 Building Centres out of
which 356 have become functional; and (e) Non-governmental organisations
are increasingly being supported to supplement governmental efforts.
NRI INVESTMENT AND FDI IN HOUSING
The housing sector suffers from paucity of funds in the backdrop of the
magnitude of housing shortage in the country. The available domestic funds
leave a huge resource gap resulting in unabated increase in the housing
shortage. There are significant gaps in resources, technology and management
in the sector.
In the ongoing process of economic reforms and liberalization of
trades and industrial policy of the Government, the housing and real estate
sectors have emerged as a key area with immense investment potential. In
order to pass on the benefits of the liberalization process to NRIs/PIO/OCBs
and to promote inflow of foreign exchange and augment resources for the
housing sector, the Government announced a scheme for NRI investment
in housing and real estate development. The scheme covers investment by
non-residents of Indian nationality/origin and Overseas Corporate Bodies
(OCBs) predominantly owned by NRIs/PIO in the following areas: (i)
development of serviced plots and construction of built-up residential
premises; (ii) real estate covering construction of residential and commercial
premises including business centres and offices; (iii) development of townships;
(iv) city and region-level urban infrastructure facilities including roads and
bridges; (v) manufacturing of building materials; (vi) financing of housing
development; and (vii) permitting FDI in the sector is under consideration.
NATIONAL BUILDING ORGANISATION
The National Building Organisation (NBO) was established in 1954 as an
attached office of the then Ministry of Works and Housing primarily to take
up research in low-cost building designs, improvement of the building and
housing conditions alongwith the socio-economic aspects. NBO also functions
as the regional centre for housing for ESCAP. In the past, NBO has been taking
up public supporting research works in building designs, building materials
and other socio-economic aspects. Publications have been brought out

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covering all these aspects and also housing statistics. Having regard to
current requirements under the National Housing and Habitat Policy to
strengthen the management information system and various other related
socio-economic and statistical functions connected with housing and other
activities and also to ensure more effective and systematic technology
transfer at various levels involving large-scale dissemination, use and
commercial application of low-cost and innovative technology, NBO has been
restructured during the year 1992 to take up mainly the socio-economic,
management information system and creation of data bank. The functions
related to building materials and designs have been taken out of the purview
of the NBO and given to BMTPC, an autonomous body within the Ministry.
In order to cope with the creation of a strong data base on housing and
urban development activities the computer facilities in NBO has been
strengthened.
HOUSING FOR CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES
In order to provide housing facilities to the Central Government employees,
Central Government Employees Welfare Housing Organisation (CGEWHO)
has been set up as a registered society under the aegis of the Ministry of
Urban Development. The CGEWHO has so far completed six projects
Chennai, Nerul (Navi Mumbai), Panchkula, NOIDA (Phase-I), NOIDA
(Phase-II) and Calcutta. These schemes have provided 2,782 dwelling units.
Projects at Gurgaon (Phase-I, 1,088 units), Kharghar (1,230 units) and
Chandigarh (305 units) are nearing completion. Projects at Bangalore (603
units), Kochi (360 units 2 phases) and Gurgaon Phase-II (852 units) have
been announced and are at various stages of initial works. The latest scheme
announced is at Ahmedabad. Projects at Hyderabad and Kanpur are in
the pipeline. Further, CGEWHO has acquired land at Lucknow, Pimpri
Chindiwad, Meerut and Greater Noida. CGEWHO is trying to acquire land
at Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati and Delhi.
LAND
Land is a critical input in housing. There is acute shortage of serviced land,
particularly in urban areas. This is responsible for inadequate housing
activity. For every 10 lakh additional units, at least 6,000 hectares of
developed land is required. To tackle this problem, concerted steps are
proposed for: (a) increased supply of serviced land through land acquisition,
negotiated purchase and land readjustment, suitable amendments to LA Act;
(b) modification of development plans and regulations for cheaper legal
shelter and intensive land use; and (c) HUDCO and NHB have been
financing land development schemes by public as well as private agencies.
URBAN LAND (CEILING AND REGULATION)

REPEAL ACT, 1999

The Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 came into force in 1976.
The object of the Act was to prevent concentration of urban land in a few
hands and to have equitable distribution of urban land in order to subserve
the common good. The Act is in force in 64 urban agglomerations spread
over in 12 states and three Union Territories. However, it was widely felt

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that there were hurdles in the implementation of the Act and the objective
of acquiring land for public purpose through this Act could not be achieved
on account of numerous litigations. The issue of amending/repealing the
Act was under consideration of the Government and it decided on 12 May
1998 to repeal it.
The Urban Land (C&R) Repeal Bill, 1998 was introduced in Lok Sabha
on 11 June 1998. The Standing Parliamentary Committee on Urban and
Rural Development, while recommending repeal of the Act, made some
suggestions for modification in the Bill . In view of the need to repeal the
Act immediately to promote housing in terms of National Housing and
Habitat Policy, 1998, the Government decided to repeal the Act through an
Ordinance and the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Repeal Ordinance,
1999 was accordingly notified on 11 January 1999. The Bill pending in Lok
Sabha was withdrawn and a fresh Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation)
Repeal Bill, 1999 was introduced on 5 March 1999 for replacing the Repeal
Ordinance, 1999. The Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Repeal Bill, 1999
was passed by both the Houses of Parliament. The Urban Land (Ceiling
and Regulation) Repeal Act, 1999 was notified in the Gazette on 22 March
1999 after obtaining the Presidents assent. The Repeal Act has already come
into force in the States of Haryana and Punjab and all the Union Territories
with effect from 11 January 1999, and in Uttar Pradesh with effect from
18 March 1999.
URBAN WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION
Water supply and sanitation are important basic needs for improvement of
the quality of life and enhancement of productive efficiency of the people.
Rapid urbanisation and industralisation have multiplied the challenges for
providing these basic amenities. Water supply and sanitation are State
subjects. The Ministry of Urban Development assists the State governments
in their programmes by way of formulation of broad policy framework,
legislative support through legislation or issue of guidelines and notifications,
Central assistance, providing technical guidance by the Central Public Health
and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO), human resource
development, research management information system (MIS) and arranging
external assistance from bilateral and multilateral institutions for State
government projects.
ACCELERATED URBAN WATER SUPPLY PROGRAMME
This Centrally-sponsored scheme was launched midway during the Eighth
Plan period in March 1994 to provide safe and adequate water supply
facilities to the entire population of towns having population less than 20,000
(as per 1991 census) in the country. Considering water scarcity, and the
narrow revenue base of municipal authorities/boards, the scheme is funded
by the Central and the State governments in the ratio of 50:50. As on 31
March 1999 an amount of Rs 13,657.40 lakh had been released to the various

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State governments for implementing 330 sanctioned schemes of which 64
schemes are reported to have been commissioned under the programme.
LOW COST SANITATION FOR LIBERATION OF SCAVENGERS
This Centrally-sponsored scheme has been under implementation through
the Ministry of Urban Development since 1989-90. It provides for conversion
of existing dry latrines into low cost water seal pour flush latrines and
construction of new sanitary units where none exist to prevent open
defecation. The basic objective is to liberate scavengers from the obnoxious
practice of carrying head-loads of night soil.
The scheme is being
implemented on a whole town basis by providing subsidy from the Ministry
and loans from HUDCO in a synchronised manner.
821 schemes covering 1,212 towns have been sanctioned under this
scheme for conversion/construction of 36.09 lakh units as on 30 April 1999
involving the liberation of 1.22 lakh manual scavengers. As per the reports
received from the State governments, 8.19 lakh low cost units have been
completed so far and 2.40 lakh units are in progress.
The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry
Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, notified in Gazette on 5 June 1993 has
become applicable to Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tripura,
West Bengal and UTs with effect from 26 January 1997. The State Assemblies
of Orissa, Punjab, Assam, Haryana, Bihar and Gujarat have also adopted
the Act. All the State governments have been requested to frame the rules
for bringing into force the Act.
HINDUSTAN PREFEB LIMITED
Hindustan Prefeb Limited is a Government of India Company functioning
under the administrative control of the Ministry of Urban Development since
1955. It is working both as a production unit and a contracting company
for execution of civil works. The company is managed by a Board of
Directors and has 674 employees on its rolls as on 31 March 1999. Its
authorised and paid-up capital stands at Rs 10 crore and Rs 6.97 crore
respectively.

CENTRALLY-SPONSORED SCHEMES
INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL AND MEDIUM TOWNS
The Scheme of Integrated Development of Small and Medium Towns
(IDSMT) aims at the development of selected regional growth centres with
infrastructure and service facilities. The objective is to enable them to emerge
as centres of economic growth and employment opportunities and arrest
migration from rural areas and small towns to large and metropolitan cities.
Keeping in view the need to strengthen infrastructure in urban areas, certain
modifications to the guidelines of the IDSMT Scheme which has been in
operation from Sixth Plan have been approved by the Cabinet on 18 July
1995 and circulated to the State governments/UT administrations. The

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important among these changes are : (a) extending the coverage of IDSMT
Scheme to towns with a population of up to five lakh; (b) new financing
pattern; (c) enabling the selected cities and towns to take up projects; (d)
a rigorous planning process of the preparation of state urban development
strategy paper, city/town investment plans and IDSMT project reports to
implement such plans; (e) a package of municipal reforms in line with the
Constitutions 74th Amendment Act including creation of revolving fund at
the municipal level to promote development of infrastructure on a continuing
basis. Seventy-five per cent of the grants released under the Scheme should
flow back from projects to the revolving fund; (f) sanctioning of IDSMT
projects to be done by a Committee at the State level; and (g) grants-inaid to State governments/Municipalities on 60 (Central) : 40 (state) basis
for preparation of town development (investment) plans and project reports
to implement the Scheme.
From inception of the Scheme till 31 March 1999, 945 towns in 25 states
and five Union Territories have been covered and Central assistance
amounting to Rs 345.30 crore released. The Plan allocation for the Scheme
is Rs 50 crore for 1999-2000.
MEGA CITY SCHEME
The Centrally-sponsored scheme of Infrastructure Development in Mega
Cities in operation from 1993-94 applies to the five Mega Cities of Mumbai,
Chennai, Calcutta, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The sharing between Central
and State governments is in the ratio of 25:25 and the balance 50 per cent
is to be mobilised as institutional finance. The projects included under the
Scheme are under three categories: (a) Remunerative projects; (b) User-charge
based projects and (c) Basic services projects. The primary objective is to
enable the mega cities build a Revolving Fund by the end of the Ninth Plan
for sustained investment in urban infrastructure through adoption of direct
and indirect cost recovery measures. The Eighth Plan notionally indicated
an outlay of Rs 700 crore for this scheme (Mumbai Rs 200 crore, Calcutta
Rs 200 crore, Chennai Rs 100 crore, Hyderabad Rs 100 crore and Bangalore
Rs 100 crore). Against this, an amount of Rs 290 crore was allocated for
the Mega City Scheme up to 1996-97. During 1997-98 Rs 69 crore was
released to the State level nodal agencies. During 1998-99 a sum of Rs 74.87
crore was released under the Mega City Scheme.
URBAN MAPPING
The Urban Mapping Scheme was taken up as a pilot project during the
Eighth Five Year Plan for covering 50 towns from different states. In the
first phase, 25 towns from six states were selected for coverage. The
Executive Agency for the project, the National Remote Sensing Agency
(NRSA) has completed aerial photography for all the towns and they have
furnished photographs and aerial maps for all the towns except three towns.
TCPO in collaboration with the concerned State Town Planning Departments
is undertaking interpretation of aerial photographs and collection of other
secondary data/information to generate thematic maps and graphic data

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base for the development of GIS and processing of information for use of
Town Planning Departments, Local Bodies, Development Authorities, PWD,
Tax Authorities and other Sectoral Development Agencies, as multi-purpose
maps.
Out of Rs 8.68 crore released to TCPO under Urban Mapping Scheme
up to 1998-99, an expenditure of Rs 6.54 crore has been incurred so far.
As envisaged in the Eighth Five Year Plan document the second phase of
the Urban Mapping Scheme involving 25 more towns was approved to be
covered in the Ninth Five Year Plan period. For the second phase of the
Urban Mapping Scheme, 13 towns have been proposed by NRSA and various
survey works have been/being completed. For the remaining towns State
governments have submitted/are in the process of submitting the technical
specifications.
CENTRAL PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
The Central Public Works Department (CPWD), is the principal agency of
the Government of India for construction and maintenance of all Central
government buildings and projects excepting those belonging to railways,
defence, communication, atomic energy, airports (national and international)
and All India Radio. The existence of the CPWD could be traced back to
the year 1863 when the Ajmer Provincial Division was created. However,
the CPWD was formally created in its present form in 1930 with its
headquarters located at New Delhi. The Department is headed by Director
General (Works). The Department has six regional centres known as New
Delhi Region, Delhi Region, Northern Region (all with headquarters at
Delhi), Eastern Region, Southern Region and Western Region (with
headquarters at Calcutta, Chennai and Mumbai respectively).
The CPWD handles a wide range of projects like housing and office
complexes. It is also executing border fencing, flood lighting and road
projects in difficult terrain and under hostile conditions along the Indo-Pak
and Indo-Bangladesh borders. CPWD has its field units all over India to
take up construction and maintenance works even in the remotest parts of
the country. It also undertakes the work of public sector undertakings and
autonomous bodies as deposit works. CPWD has also executed many
overseas works such as construction of embassies and hospital buildings
in various countries and roads and bridges in Nepal.
The CPWD has to its credit construction of prestigious buildlings like
Rashtrapati Bhawan, North Block, South Block, Parliament House, Vigyan
Bhawan and many multi-storeyed structures, stadia. The prestigious Parliament
Library Building costing approximately Rs 85 crore is under construction
near the existing Parliament House.
The department is moving forward in the field of construction by
developing innovative new techniques and adopting state-of-the-art
technologies. The Technology Application and Development Cell (TAD Cell)
has been established to identify and select environment friendly construction
materials and technologies in close liaison and coordination with research

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organisations. The CPWD is playing a major role towards sustainable
development of human settlement. It has also developed expertise in
rehabilitation of structures.
The CPWD has well-documented specifications and standards, and
schedules of rates which are updated from time to time, to keep pace with
latest technologies and market trends with a definite quality assurance plan.
These specifications and schedules of rates are being followed by various
construction organisations both in the public as well as in private sectors.

CONSTRUCTION AGENCIES
NATIONAL BUILDINGS CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION LIMITED
The National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC) was
incorporated as a public sector undertaking in November 1960. The paidup equity share capital of NBCC as on 31 March 1999 (after financial
restructuring) is Rs 81.65 crore and non-cumulative preference share of
Rs 30 crore against the authorised capital of Rs 120 crore. Using state-ofthe-art in construction technology, NBCC has executed numerous high-value
sophisticated and prestigious projects in the following areas: (i) Tall RCC
Chimneys/TV Towers; (ii) Energy and Transmission Lines; (iii) Cooling
Towers; (iv) Transportation Structures; (v) Project Management and
Consultancy; (vi) Use of Trenchless (No-Dig) Technology; (vii) Institutional
Buildings; (viii) Real Estate; (ix) Environmental Structures using UASB
Technology; (x) Hotels and Hospitals; (xi) Mass Housing and Townships;
and (xii) Interior Decoration and Maintenance assignments.
The NBCC has established itself as a Flag Ship company in the country
for construction of high-rise chimneys and cooling towers using slip form
and jump form technologies. NBCC is also in the process of establishing
its expertise in UASB Technology the most economical for execution of
Sewage Treatment Plants. Being a nodal agency, NBCC has been promoting
the use of trenchless technology in India. The Corporation has also acquired
directional drilling equipments to take up the projects to be executed through
this technology. NBCC is a MoU signing company with the Government
since 1992-93 and its performance has been rated as Excellent for the last
three years. In tune with the economic liberalisation, it has entered into
agreements with a number of multi-nationals, private and public firms for
exploration of business.

NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION PLANNING BOARD

The National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) was constituted under
an Act of Parliament in February 1985 to plan and promote a balanced and
harmonised development of the National Capital Region (NCR). The Board
has prepared Regional plan-2001 NCR and is co-ordinating the enforcement
and implementation of the Regional Plan, Functional Plans and Sub-Regional
Plans. To implement the Plan, the Board is to arrange for and oversee the
financing of selected development projects through Central and State Plan

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funds and other sources of revenue. The participating States of Uttar Pradesh
and Rajasthan have prepared Sub-Regional Plans for their respective subregions and have been approved by NCRPB. The Board has also approved
Functional Plans for transport, power, telecom and industry. Since the
horizon of the present Regional Plan is 2001, the National Capital Region
Planning Board has initiated the process of preparation of Regional Plan2021. The preparation of the Sub-regional Plans for Haryana and NCT-Delhi
with the perspective year 2021 has also been initiated by their respective
State governments.
To achieve the objectives of the Regional Plan, the NCR Planning Board
has approved an Investment Plan for the Ninth Five Year Plan period with
an investment programme of Rs 28,426 crore consisting of Rs 16,500 crore
in the private sector and Rs 11,926 crore in the public sector. In public sector
the Central sector investment (from the Ministries of Railways, Surface
Transport and Telecom) is expected to be Rs 2,916 crore and state sector
investment will be Rs 9,010 crore. In the State sectors investment programme,
the projects required to be funded jointly by NCRPB and participating States
are to the tune of Rs 6,300 crore. The Board has approved 123 projects
costing Rs 2,280 crore. The Board has granted a loan of Rs 1,210 crore,
out of which a sum of Rs 665.76 has been released to Haryana, Rajasthan
and Uttar Pradesh during 1998-99.

URBAN POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGRAMMES

The National Commission on Urbanisation (NCU) set up by the Government
of India in 1988 recommended that the amelioration of urban poverty should
be accorded the same priority as that given to rural poverty. As a followup of the recommendations of the NCU, the Government of India in 1989
adopted a four-pronged strategy of addressing the issues of growing
incidence of poverty in urban areas comprising: (a) employment creation
for low-income communities through promotion of micro-enterprises and
public works; (b) housing and shelter upgradation; (c) social development
planning with special focus on development of children and women; and
(d) environmental upgradation of slums. The Government of India launched
two schemes for the betterment of urban poor. These were (i) The Nehru
Rozgar Yojana (NRY) launched in 1989 to cater to the economic needs to
the urban poor by providing them employment opportunities through skill
upgradation and assistance in setting up their own micro-enterprises; and
(ii) The Urban Basic Services for the Poor (UBSP) which was a modified
UBS programme (started in 1990). The NRY and UBSP are based on
beneficiary approach and community approach respectively. Thus, during
the fag end of the Seventh Plan period, the Government of India started
adopting all three approaches, i.e., the area approach under the EIUS
scheme; beneficiary approach under the NRY scheme; and community
approach under the UBSP programme.
In the Eighth Five Year Plan (1992-97), the participatory approach had
become the fulcrum for urban poverty alleviation programmes and sought

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to be strengthened.
The Prime Minister s Integrated Urban Poverty
Eradication Programme (PMIUPEP) for improving the quality of life of urban
poor by creating a facilitating environment for them through community
based planning and implementation was launched in 1995. The PMIUPEP
sought to address the problems of urban poverty with a multi-pronged long
term strategy which envisaged bringing community based organisations
(CBOs) to the centre of the development process, by facilitating direct
participation of the targeted groups who are expected to benefit from this
programme. The important feature of the Prime Ministers programme is
that the UBSP model of community-based organisation has been adopted
and forms the foundation of the programme. Services have to be provided
by involving these organisations as far as possible.
During the process of implementation of the UPA schemes it was
observed that NRY, UBSP and PMIUPEP, which were launched at different
times, have overlapping features. The PMIUPEP incorporates within itself
all the components of UBSP as also the self-employment, physical infrastructure
creation component, and the shelter upgradation components of NRY.
However, the PMIUPEP, as mentioned earlier applies only to Class II urban
agglomerations whereas the NRY applies to all other towns and the UBSP
applies to selected towns only. There are some dissimilarities between these
programmes as well. The NRY and PMIUPEP (the latter launched six years
after the former) differ widely on vital ingredients such as definition of
family, amount of available subsidies, the amount of loan, both for selfemployment and for the shelter upgradation components, etc. Efforts have
been undertaken to rationalise the parameters of the two schemes.

SWARNA JAYANTI SHAHARI ROZGAR YOJANA

The Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) has been launched as a
replacement for Nehru Rozgar Yojana (NRY), Urban Basic Services for the
Poor (UBSP), and Prime Ministers Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication
Programme (PMI-UPEP) on 1 December 1997. The SJSRY seeks to provide
gainful employment to the urban unemployed or under-employed poor
through encouraging the setting up of self-employment ventures or provision
of wage employment. The Yojana is funded on a 75:25 basis between the
Centre and the States. The scheme consists of two special schemes, namely:
(a) The Urban Self Employment Programme (USEP); and (b) The Urban Wage
Employment Programme (UWEP).
The Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana rests on a foundation of
community empowerment. It aims at establishing and promoting community
organisations and structures to provide supporting and facilitating mechanism
for local development. Towards this end community organisations like
Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs), Neighbourhood Committees (NHCs), and
Community Development Societies (CDSs) are to be set up in the target
areas based on the UBSP pattern. The CDSs shall be the focal point for
purposes of identification of beneficiaries, preparation of application,
monitoring of recovery and generally providing whatever other support is

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necessary to the programme. The CDSs will also identify viable projects
suitable for that particular area.
The CDSs, being a federation of different community-based organisations,
shall be the nodal agency for this programme. It is expected that they will
lay emphasis on providing the entire gamut of social sector inputs to their
areas including, but not limited to, health, welfare, education, etc., by
establishing convergence between schemes being implemented by the different
departments within their jurisdiction. During 1998-99 Rs 82.62 crore were
released under USEP, Rs 48.75 crore under UWEP and Rs 27.10 crore under
Community Structure Component to all the States/UTs under SJSRY.
URBAN SELF-EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMME
This programme has three distinct parts: (i) Assistance to individual urban
poor beneficiaries for setting up gainful self-employment ventures; (ii)
Assistance to groups of urban poor women for setting up gainful selfemployment ventures. This sub-scheme is called The Scheme for Development
of Women and Children in the Urban Areas (DWCUA); and (iii) Training
of beneficiaries, potential beneficiaries and other persons associated with the
urban employment programme for upgradation and acquisition of vocational
and entrepreneurial skills. The programme will be applicable to all urban
towns in India and implemented on a whole-town basis with special
emphasis on urban poor clusters. It will target the urban poor, as those living
below the urban poverty-line, as defined from time to time. Special attention
will be given to women, persons belonging to scheduled castes/tribes,
disabled persons and other such categories as may be indicated by the
Government from time to time. The percentage of women beneficiaries under
this programme shall not be less than 30 per cent. There will be no minimum
educational qualification for beneficiaries under this programme. However,
this scheme shall not apply to beneficiaries educated beyond the IX standard.
The number of beneficiaries assisted up to 30 April 1999 was 69,432.
DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN URBAN AREAS
Development of Women and Children in Urban Areas (DWCUA) aims at
helping groups of urban poor women in taking up self-employment ventures.
The group should consist of at least 10 women. The ceiling of subsidy under
the scheme is Rs 1.25 lakh or 50 per cent of the cost of project whichever
is less. Where the group sets itself up as Thrift and Credit Society, in addition
to its self-employment ventures, it will be eligible for an additional grant
of Rs 25,000 as Revolving Fund at the rate of Rs 1,000 maximum per member.
The Fund is meant for purposes like purchase of raw materials and
marketing, infrastructure support, one time expense on child care activity,
expenses up to Rs 500 on travel cost of group members to bank, payment
of insurance premium for self/spouse/child by maintaining savings for
different periods by a member and any other expense allowed by the State
in the groups interest. The Revolving Fund can be availed by a group
only after one year of its formation.

Housing
URBAN WAGE EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMME
This programme shall seek to provide wage employment to beneficiaries
living below the poverty-line within the jurisdiction of urban local bodies
by utilising their labour for construction of socially and economically useful
public assets. The programme shall apply to urban local bodies, the
population of which was less than five lakh as per the 1991 Census. The
material labour ratio for works under this programme shall be maintained
at 60:40. The prevailing minimum wage rate, as notified from time to time
for each area, shall be paid to the beneficiaries under this programme. Up
to 30 April 1999, 194.74 lakh beneficiaries were covered and 76.40 lakh
mandays of work generated by the States/UTs.

CHRONOLOGICAL HIGHLIGHTS
1960

The National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC)

incorporated as a Public Sector Undertaking (November).

1969

National Cooperative Housing Federation of India set up.

1970

The Housing & Urban Development Corporation Limited

(HUDCO) set up as a fully owned Government Company
(April).

1976

The National Institute of Urban Affairs set up.

1979-80

The scheme of integrated development of small and medium

towns initiated.

1985

The National Capital Region Planning Board constituted

(March).

1993-94

The Mega city scheme launched.

1996

National Slum Development Programme (NSDP) launched

(August).

1997

The Union Cabinet approves the Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rojagar

Yojana.

1998

HUDCO
sanctions schemes for construction of over
one lakh houses under the two million housing programme.

A new Housing and Habitat Policy formulated is laid before

the Parliament (July).