Centre calls meet on way forward on 'Housing for all by 2022'

To give a push to its “Housing for all by 2022” goal, the government has convened a meeting of housing and urban development secretaries and ministers to review various schemes and projects in this area.

The two-day meet from July 2 is to be presided by Union Urban Development and Housing Minister Venkaiah Naidu. The theme of the meet is Urban Governance and Housing For All: Opportunities and Challenges. Housing for all by 2022 is one of the flagship schemes of the NDA government. The purpose of the discussions would be to expedite the construction of houses under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and take stock of the progress of housing under Affordable Housing in Partnership and 'Rajiv Awas Yojana' schemes.

Ministers and secretaries dealing with housing, urban development, urban affairs, local self-government at the Centre and in the states and Union Territories will be attending the meet.

The meeting will also discuss ways for increasing land availability through pooling and innovative land development models. It will also explore the scope for providing incentives to developers or builders to encourage affordable housing and rental housing projects.

NDA government is aiming to ensure housing for all by 2022 and is expected to make a substantial allocation in this regard in the General Budget.

Housing is a major challenge with an estimated shortfall of 190 lakh units in urban areas at present which is expected to rise substantially by 2022, the 75th year of Independence, by which time the Centre intends to ensure housing for all.

Other issues related to urban infrastructure, including transport, solid waste management, supply of drinking water and sanitation will also be discussed during the meet.

"The two-day meet is in pursuance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of realising true cooperative federalism by making the states and Union Territories partners from conceptualisation to implementation of new projects and policies for better results," said Naidu.

Also drawing attention to the need for urban governance, Naidu said, "With the country set to be primarily 'urban' with more than 50 per cent of the people living in urban areas, urban governance emerges as the major challenge." He said to convert these serious challenges into opportunities, governments at the Centre and in the states and Union Territories need to make collaborative efforts to learn from the experiences gained so far.