Urban poor kept out of new affordable housing benefits
iasparliament
January 02, 2017
What’s the news?
The poor in urban India might stay untouched by the initiatives announced by the Prime Minister on the last day of 2016.
Effects of the new schemes launched under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) would be felt more in tier-II and tier-III cities. Not many budget or affordable housing projects are in the works in metropolitan cities.
What is PMAY?
The objective of PMAY is to provide shelter to homeless individuals, especially those who belong to lower income groups.The implementation will be carried out in three phases.
Under PMAY, the government aims to cover around two million non-slum urban poor households. Hence, the total housing shortage envisaged to be addressed through the new mission is 20 mn.
The mission is being implemented over 2015-2022, providing central assistance to urban local bodies and other implementing agencies, through states and Union Territories.
What is the major issue?
Experts agree the affordable housing segment will get a needed boost but not in big cities. The fillip would be visible in rural and semi-urban areas. The affect would not be much visible in cities, as the land prices are higher.
Conclusion:
There is a feeling that demonetisation, along with developments such as the Real Estate Regulatory Authority and a goods and services tax, will provide impetus to the sector, bringing more transparency and accountability in due course.
So far, the government’s measures for affordable housing have not met with success.They should in the long term work on things like tax exemption on agricultural income.
