New Delhi:(Page3 News Network)-The Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) has received any communication from the Ministry of Railways for rehabilitation of poor families under Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) living nearby railway tracks in urban cities as on date. In pursuance of the Government’s vision of creating a Slum-free India, the Scheme ‘Rajiv Awas Yojana’ (RAY) has been launched on 02.06.2011. Currently, Rajiv Awas Yojana is in preparatory phase, focusing on preparation of Slum-free City Plans and sanction/implementation of pilot projects. This was stated by Shri Ajay Maken, Union Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA), in the Rajya Sabha today, in a written reply to a question by Shri Parshottam Khodabhai Rupala & Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya. The Minister stated that under the Scheme, Central Assistance will be extended to States that are willing to assign property rights to slum dwellers and undertake reservation of land/Floor Area Ratio (FAR)/dwelling units for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)/Low Income Groups (LIG), earmark 25 per cent of municipal budget for basic services to the urban poor/ slum-dwellers and bring in legislative amendments and policy changes to redress land and affordable housing shortages for the urban poor. Ministry of Railways vide their communications have remarked that in-situ rehabilitation of slum dwellers in the vicinity of tracks in linear projections is not feasible due to operational requirement and / or safety constraints and that the State Governments should provide land for their relocation under the RAY Scheme. It has also been stated that the existing provisions of law permit Railways to only assign lease / licensing rights and not property rights to slum dwellers over railway land acquired for public purpose.
The Minister further stated that the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation has drawn attention of the Central Government land-owning Ministries/Departments including Ministry of Railways to the guidelines circulated by the Ministry for preparation of innovative pilot projects under RAY with the objective of evolving, demonstrating and establishing models that can thereafter be up-scaled. Under these guidelines pilot projects submitted by Central Government Ministries/Departments, including the Ministry of Railways and Central Public Sector Undertakings are also eligible for central assistance. Central Government land owning Ministries/ Departments have been advised to issue necessary instructions to the agencies concerned under them to explore the possibilities of preparing innovative pilot projects for redevelopment of slums on their land and seek Central assistance.
The Minister further stated that a meeting of State Ministers in charge of Housing was held to discuss various issues of implementation of RAY Scheme, including slums on various categories of land. The issue of slums on Central Government lands, including on Railway lands was taken up in the meeting of Committee of Secretaries having representation of various land-owning Ministries such as Railways, Forest, Civil Aviation, Defence etc. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation has held several deliberations with Central / State Governments, land owning Ministries / Departments to arrive at a policy solution to redevelop / relocate the slums on their land, under Rajiv Awas Yojana. A Secretary level bilateral meeting was held between Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. The Central Government Ministries and Departments have been requested to take up slum survey and other preparatory activities and prepare pilot projects for seeking Central assistance support under the current phase of Rajiv Awas Yojana, the Minister added.
