Govt to merge major existing schemes of housing under National Housing Mission

Rajiv Awas Yojana, Indira Awas Yojana and Rajiv Rinn Yojana were launched to provide housing for needy

The government plans to soon launch a National Housing Mission, which will merge all the major existing schemes of the previous government including JNNURAM and Rajiv Awas Yojana.

"We have experiences of JNNURM, Indira Awas Yojana, Rajiv Awas Yojana, Rajiv Rinn Yojana. There are so many yojana some of them even did not take off. We have studied all these schemes and now the government has decided to merge all schemes into one. It will be National Housing Mission which will be launched soon,"minister for Urban Development and Housing Venkaiah Naidu said at a Naredco event on 'Housing for All 2022'.

JNNURM was started to create urban infrastructure along wiith affordable housing, Rajiv Awas Yojana, Indira Awas Yojana and Rajiv Rinn Yojana were launched to provide housing for the needy and economically weaker sections in the society.

He also said the ministry is in discussions with all the states and urban local bodies to enable online clearances for housing and other urban development projects.

We are committed to promote public-private partnership and operational hurdles will be removed by making available land required and enabling expeditious clearances, he said.

The Minister also said they would consider the suggestion of renaming the proposed law (Real Estate Regulatory Bill) as 'Real Estate Facilitation and Consumer Protection Act'.

The proposed Real Estate Regulation Act will not stifle and strangulate the development of real estate sector but only seeks to protect the interests of the consumers.

The government is in the process of revising the Real Estate Regulatory Bill by incorporating suggestions from the various states and the industry. The Real Estate Bill, 2013 was introduced in Rajya Sabha in August last year during the regime of UPA II and was referred to Standing Committee on Urban Development.

Earlier, the draft Bill has been revised various times since 2009, when it was first formulated.

The industry has been opposing the introduction of the Bill. They have raised concerns over strict penalties/punishment to be imposed on developer if they fail to comply with certain provisions. It also makes it mandatory for developers to launch projects only after acquiring all the statutory clearances from relevant authorities.

The Bill is aimed at providing regulation in the sector, besides protecting buyers from erring developers and usher in an era of transparency. The real estate sector has been away from any sort of regulation till now.

The minister also suggested a 10-point agenda for the real estate sector to promote affordable and inclusive housing including rental housing for the economically weaker sections and low income groups looking at opportunities at the bottom of the pyramid as this sector is viable through larger volumes.