Venkaiah to discuss shelters for homeless with states

Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu will Friday meet the chief secretaries of all the states and union territories to discuss their action plans on setting up temporary and permanent shelters for homeless people.

The meeting has been convened in pursuance of the direction of the Supreme Court, the ministry said in a statement.

"The meeting will discuss the number of homeless people in states/UTs, number of temporary and permanent shelters available, plans for construction and improvement of shelters and the steps taken by the state governments to implement schemes under National Urban Livelihood Mission," it said.

Naidu will also hold a day-long session with the chief secretaries to discuss, among other issues, various initiatives of the central government on building smart cities, provision of basic infrastructure in 500 urban areas, and development of heritage cities.