by Swathi Subramaniam, PRIA

Recently, two day national conclave on “Urban Governance and Housing for All – Opportunities and challenges” was presided over by Shri. M. Venkiah Naidu and concluded by suggesting a 25-point charter for urban planning and management.

 It was estimated that 3 crore houses will be short by the year 2022. GoI aspires to have Housing for All by 2022 with special emphasis on Economically Weaker Society, Lower Income Group et al. The housing and construction contributes to 9% of GDP and supports 250 ancillary industries. A comprehensive housing policy will be formed, implementation of single window scheme for approval of layouts for builders, to improve livelihoods of the urban poor, ensure peoples participation in governance, amendment of rental laws etc. 

Earlier government had also initiated housing for the poor. Rajiv Awas Yojana(RAY) and Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JnNURM) are two big schemes which were…