Government seeks property entitlements for slum dwellers

In a move that seeks to empower the urban poor, the UPA government has initiated steps to provide the weaker segment of urban society with suitable property entitlements.

Announcing her ministry's 100-day plan of action yesterday, union housing and urban poverty alleviation minister, Kumari Selja said the government would develop a model legal framework for consideration by states and union territories.

She said that there are about 81 million urban poor or slum dwellers in the country according to the 2004-05 census. She added the ministry would launch a development scheme - 'Rajiv Awas Yojana' aimed to promote a slum-free India in the next five years. (See: Tourism, housing and urban poverty alleviation together to generate more employment)

She said the scheme would focus on according rights to slum dwellers with the state providing basic amenities such as water supply, sewerage, drainage, internal and approach roads, street lighting and social infrastructure facilities. She added that according property rights meant providing access to housing to slum dwellers.

She said the ministry has proposed that master plans include reservation of land to build houses for the poor and also for helping them carry out their economic activities like street vending. She added that once the slum dwellers acquire ownership through a legal process, they would further be able to leverage it for their own uplift.

The plan's property rights model would draw on the best practices from both within and outside the country and would be circulated to states enable them to establish their own legal regulatory framework to suit local conditions.