Is Housing-For-All Target Achievable?

The one-year report card of the Housing for All by 2022 scheme shows authorities will have to hasten up execution to meet the target within the deadline.

Sample this.

Under the mission, an estimated 20 million units needs to be completed by 2022. This means a little over 2 million homes should be the target every year.

Unfortunately, only 19,255 units have been built across states between June, 2015 and July, 2016.  Even projects that had received the required approvals reported delays.

Of the 19,255 units, about 55 per cent have been built in Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, the only states that have shown considerable progress. On the other hand, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh did not see any construction under the mission during the period. Tamil Nadu, by far, is the leader with more than two lakh homes sanctioned under the PMAY-Urban till date. Nearly 3,000 more homes in the region were announced on January 18 in areas such as Tiruppur, Madurai, Edanganasalai, Marakkanam, Kottakuppam, Coimbatore, Thanjavur, Namagiripettai and Vadalur.

Till date, a little over 15 lakh homes have received approvals under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) for a total investment of Rs 82,708 crore.

On January 18, construction of over 78,000 houses for urban poor had been approved with an investment of nearly Rs 3,000 crore. However, delays in either getting approvals or execution on site have been a tremendous issue. For example, West Bengal, a state that is number one when it comes to getting approvals, work is in progress only in nine per cent of units.  

Looking at the speed of progress, the deadline of the mission might have to be extended beyond 2022 if units are not built with lightning speed. Dr Nandita Chatterjee, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, says that all states and Union territories need to expedite the submission of proposals.

Immediate housing must to stop swift migration by the urban poor

In 2012, the Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry redefined the economically weaker section (EWS) category. Previously, the definition applied to families earning Rs 60,000 annually. Now, the criterion is a family income of up to Rs 1 lakh annually. The category of lower-income group (LIG) also saw an upward revision. Now, families with an annual income of between Rs 1-2 lakh come under the LIG category.

“The people who fall under both these categories are extremely important for the country's economic progress. They provide myriad services which our cities can simply not do without. This population is prone to migrating out of cities that do not support their needs. For them, as for everyone else, home ownership provides not only a strong psychological anchor but also financial security and a better lifestyle. Providing them housing will stop migration of this population,” says Kishor Pate, CMD, Amit Enterprises Pvt Ltd.

It is not just for meeting certain targets that the government must speed up the work on providing Housing for All.

Here's the latest move:

The Centre has approved a three per cent interest subsidy on loans up tp Rs 2 lakh for all households not covered under PMAY (Grameen) .

The scheme would also enable people in rural areas to construct new houses or renovate/improve their existing pucca houses.

National Housing Bank (NHB) would implement the scheme and the government would provide net present value of the interest subsidy of three per cent to it.

NHB will, in turn, pass it to the primary lending institutions, like scheduled commercial banks, NBFCs and others.

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