Parl panel suggests modifying PMAY-U after impact assessment study

A parliamentary panel has recommended to the government to conduct an impact assessment study of its urban housing scheme and explore the feasibility of extending it with modifications or formulating another similar one to benefit the urban poor at large to achieve the objective of 'Housing for All'.

The Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs also sought to know the number of slums de-notified since the implementation of the In-Situ Slum Redevelopment (ISSR) vertical of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) and observed that the housing ministry is duty-bound to maintain the data pertaining to the outcome of its mission and schemes.

The report of the committee, chaired by Rajiv Ranjan Singh, was presented in Lok Sabha on Monday.

The report stated that the Union Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) Ministry has accepted that it had not conducted any independent urban housing need assessment study of the PMAY-U.

"The Committee feels that being a demand-driven scheme, there are chances that some homeless people who did not fulfil the eligibility conditions for the scheme or due to other impediments like maximum contribution from individuals, requirement of land etc., could not avail the benefit," the report said.

The ministry may, thereafter, explore the feasibility of either extending the existing scheme with modifications based on the impact assessment study or formulating another such scheme to benefit the urban poor at large so as to achieve the government of India's objective of 'Housing for All', it said.

The committee said that out of the total 122.69 lakh houses sanctioned under the four verticals of the PMAY-U, 73.45 lakh (around 60 per cent) houses have been sanctioned under the Beneficiary-led Construction (BLC) vertical itself.

It observed that the majority of urban "homeless" are also "landless" and purchasing a piece of land in an urban area is more challenging than constructing a house on it.

"The Committee is dismayed to note that though BLC vertical is the most preferred vertical, out of the 20,45,390 houses so far curtailed on account of unavoidable circumstances, 12.51 lakh houses were under the BLC vertical itself where availability of land is not a problem.

"The common reasons for curtailment of projects/houses across verticals put forth by the Ministry include land clearance/disputes, permanent migration of beneficiaries etc," it stated.

Due to "less/nil" state assistance and fixed central assistance, beneficiary contribution rises and thereby makes EWS houses unaffordable for the targeted group, the report stated.