New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS) The Centre has already handed over as many as 95.54 lakh houses to beneficiaries under two schemes of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal has informed Parliament.

Replying to supplementaries in the Rajya Sabha during question hour, the minister said that a 2020 slum survey showed that 6.5 crore people, comprising 1.39 crore households, were living in slums across the country.

He explained that land and colonisation are State subjects and policies and programmes related to slum rehabilitation rest with respective states and Union Territories. Hence, data related to slum rehabilitation or relocation is not maintained by the ministry.

However, in the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCTD), the slum rehabilitation and demolitions are done by various land owning agencies like Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), etc., under the provisions of various applicable Acts.

“As part of its Slum Rehabilitation programme, DDA has carried out demolition after properly rehabilitating eligible slum dwellers. It involves a total of 5,158 households, out of which a total of 3,414 were found eligible for alternative rehabilitation as per the DUSIB policy,” the minister said in a written reply to a question.

The eligible dwellers have been provided with alternative rehabilitation with all modern facilities. Implementing agencies execute slum rehabilitation projects based on their own land management policies and the slum rehabilitation policy of States and UTs.

During the slum rehabilitation and resettlement, land owning agencies and implementing agencies and affected families may also seek assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) and PMAY-U 2.0, if beneficiaries are otherwise eligible, the minister pointed out.

“Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is supplementing the efforts of States and UTs by providing central assistance under PMAY-U since June 25, 2015, for the construction of houses for eligible families, including slum dwellers, he added.

“Further, based on the learnings from the experiences of implementation of PMAY-U, MoHUA has revamped the scheme and launched PMAY-U 2.0 ‘Housing for All’ Mission with effect from September 1, 2024, to support 1 crore additional eligible beneficiaries in urban areas. PMAY-U 2.0 is implemented through four verticals, i.e., Beneficiary Led Construction Affordable Housing in Partnership, Affordable Rental Housing and Interest Subsidy Scheme,” he said.

“Under PMAY-U and PMAY-U 2.0, a total of Rs 2.05 lakh crore has been sanctioned as Central Assistance, of which Rs 1.75 lakh crore has been released to States and UTs and Rs 1.65 lakh crore has been utilised by them. Although slum dwellers have received benefits under all verticals of PMAY-U, Rs 1,800 crore Central Assistance has been specifically released under In-Situ Slum Redevelopment vertical,” the minister added.

–IANS

sps