Two years after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee promised in his budget speech that India would become slum-free in five years, the United Progressive Alliance government has come up with legislation that might enable progress towards this goal. The model Property Rights to Slum Dwellers Act circulated recently by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation aims to improve the conditions of an estimated 93 million slum dwellers. The legislation would entitle every “eligible” slum dweller living in a slum to receive a dwelling place of 25 square metres of carpet area or its equivalent land area at “affordable” cost. It would confer property rights in the name of the female head of the household or in the joint name of the male head and his wife. This is a progressive course correction meant to check the prevalent male bias in determining housing rights. The proposed Act lays down a seven-year lock-in period to prevent the sale or lease of the allotted property but sensibly makes provision for mortgaging the dwelling units to raise loans for improving them.
There are some serious shortcomings in the model Act. The proposal to fix a cut-off date to identify “eligible” slum dwellers and provide the “ineligible” ones only with an “all weather” space for rent and not a proper dwelling needs to be rethought. Arbitrary cut-off dates and a rigid quota system are impractical to implement. Lessons should be learnt from the failed government schemes to regulate urban street vendors. If the social objective is to create slum-free cities, an inclusive definition that maximises the number of beneficiaries is an imperative. It is ironical that this model legislation, which is meant to stop forced evictions, has provisions to imprison and fine people who have constructed “illegal” structures on government land. Securing government property is a separate issue. Housing is a State subject and the success of the recommended legislation will depend on how well it is implemented by the various State governments. In 2007, the Union Ministry through its national housing policy recommended that 20-25 per cent of the built-up area should be reserved for low-income groups in all housing projects, including those built by private developers. This is yet to be implemented in many cities. What is critical is adequate supply of housing for the poor. If the vision of slum-free cities is to be realised, the stock of social housing must be vastly increased.
Making India a slum free is a very good idea. And another good news is that conferring the property rights to women of that family. But it is very important to do the job as soon as possible and also looking off that ineligibles are not encouraged. It will still more pleasing when the people who made illegal constructions in govt land are convicted as soon as possible.
Upa govt's initiative to make India slum free is not an easy task. the first thing is that roll out the project in metro steets first and then come to tier 2 cities for suceessfull implimentation of this project.the identification of eligible persons is also need to be trasperent.then it comes to land allocation and area identification.If it will done in PPP mode i personally believe it will be fruitful.
The proposed Property Rights to Slum Dwellers Act which aims to improve the conditions of an estimated 93 million slum dwellers by providing 25 square metres of carpet area or its equivalant land is a welcome step. However, two things are very crucial for making the Act effactive. Firstly, the definition of 'eligible' slum dwellers should be clear and inclusive. If the definition is not clear, it may give birth to corruption and the scheme may fall pray to the vested interests of the powerful builders. Secondly, the effective implementation of the Act requires strong will power on the part of state governments. If there is lack of will power, the Act will prove to be no use and the objective of slum-free India will remain a distant dream.
The editor clearly expressed the pros and cons of the model act. Recently in Tamilnadu TN HOUSING BOARD's built-in plots were mostly alotted to IAS and IPS officers. Some frauds were also taken place.
Making India a slum free is a good thought. But there were many challenges before the UPA government to make this a successful project. Making a list of eligible slum dwellers is a big task. Government should come with proper parameters to make a lsit of eligible people. Second tough task lies in collecting the necessary land for construction. Slum areas were goverment land and were occupied by these people. Govt. Has to first vacate these people. Third and toughest task is proper utilization of the funds allocated for this project. Hope this project won't be another CWG or 2G.
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