Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on October 5, 2017, said the Government is committed to ensure a decent living habitat to all in urban areas particularly the poor and has taken various initiatives in this regard. The flagship new urban missions launched during the last three years constitute an integrated urban habitat model, he said.
Puri was addressing a programme organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on the occasion of ‘World Habitat Day’ on ‘Housing Policies : Affordable Homes’ in New Delhi. The Minister said the new urban missions launched by the Government like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) is at the core of ensuring affordable homes to the poor and the needy while other missions like the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) aim at enabling the much needed basic infrastructure for a decent habitat, according to a PIB release.
Under PMAY (Urban), the Ministry has so far approved construction of 28,57,321 affordable homes for Economically Weaker Sections, Low and Middle Income Groups with an investment of Rs 1,54,180 crore. Central assistance of Rs 44,278 cr has been approved for these houses.
Puri said that the Government has taken several initiatives to give a boost to housing sector and in particular to affordable housing to meet the housing needs of the people. He noted that the real estate sector has run into some problems for various reasons and he had reasons to believe that this sector will soon bounce back. Puri said after a long time, the Government has brought this sector under a regulatory framework in the interest of the sector, according to a PIB release.
Puri while referring to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030 noted that India’s performance would be the key to achieve these goals at global scale. Noting that 15 of the 17 SDGs are in the domain of urban local bodies, he said the Government is endeavoring to improve the capacities of city governments.