w



FARAH NAAZ
PARUL SHARMA
SHAMA GUPTA
a
 

  
  

  
 




a
   

 
  



a 
  
  




 



a?
 









 



 
   
  

aThe emphasis was on
a Human development,
a Increase in the growth rate and
a Adoption of a full scale employment scheme for
all.
a For such development one needs to
a Promote the social sectors of the nation and
a To give utmost importance to the eradication of
poverty.
a Participation of the governmental agencies along
with the general population of that nation.
a Combined effort of public, private, and all levels
of government is essential for ensuring the
growth of india's economy.
aTo prioritize agricultural sector and emphasize on
the rural development
aTo generate adequate employment opportunities
and promote poverty reduction
aTo stabilize the prices in order to accelerate the
growth rate of the economy
aTo ensure food and nutritional security

aTo provide for the basic infrastructural facilities

like education for all, safe drinking water, primary
health care, transport, energy

aTo check the growing population increase

aTo encourage social issues like women
empowerment, conservation of certain benefits
for the special groups of the society
aTo create a liberal market for increase in private
investments `
aThe level of urbanisation
a 11 to 12 per cent during the first three decades
a Increasing noticeably in the decade of
independence
a 17.3 per cent in 1951
a 25.7 per cent in 1991.
a The planning commission's technical group on
urban perspectives and policies has projected the
urban population at 31.0 per cent of the total
population in 1996-97 and 38.0 per cent in 2006-
07.
a One of the largest urban systems with 217.6
million people in 1991, which is projected to
increase to 289 million in 2001 and around 605-
618 million during 2021-2025.
aThere will be about 40 metro cities in the country
in 2001 as against 23 in 1991.
aNinth Plan strategies will be directed at
a The slow-down in urbanisation during 1981-91
a growing concentration of urban population in
larger towns
amega and metro cities - land is a major constraint
for undertaking development work.
aA large part of civic amenities, particularly water
supply, sanitation and sewerage, are managed
with assets that have outlived their operational
efficiency.
aupgradation and renovation, is constrained by
high population density and concentrated
commercial activities at the locations where these
service assets are installed
aThe lack of comprehensive urban planning in the
past to promote regular upgradation and renewal
has resulted in a large backlog of development
activities.
aThe key urban concern is the growing gap
between demand and supply of basic services.
aWhile there has been a steady growth in the
housing stock, infrastructure and services, the
gaps between demand and supply have been
rising, even in terms of conservative norms.
aThese gaps are unlikely to be bridged over the
next 5 to 10 years.
aMany goals of housing, potable water and
sanitation that were to be attained by 2001 ad,
may require the target point fixed 10-15 years ago
to be extended
aIndia, nevertheless, continues to live in her
villages.
aAs many as 629 million people live in some
580,706 villages, which works out to an average of
1,083 per village.
a Rural population density is low at an average of
214 persons per sq.km, which brings out the
arural development challenges in terms of
provision of human settlements-related services
of potable water, sanitation, and access to
livelihood programmes.
aIncreased per capita cost of the services,
Operation and Maintenance( O & M) logistics and
recovery of investment are priority concerns.
aThe rural hinterland has played a critical role in
sustaining urbanisation.
a indicators of sources of primary inputs, competitively
priced labour for urban economic activities,
a primary funds as reflected in comparative urban and rural
credit-deposit ratios and market for urban products.
aMigration of the rural poor to urban areas may
have a destabilising effect on urbanisation and its
sustainability.
aIncome and employment opportunities will have
to rise in the rural areas, through both the farm
and non-farm sectors
aHabitats and basic services have to be improved
so that with rural development and congenial
habitats, rural areas emerge as sustainable
centres of economic activities and human
settlements.
aThe rural-urban continuum would be
strengthened so that gaps between rural and
urban lifestyles are reduced.
aEffective urban strategies and programmes
cannot be developed in isolation of those in the
rural areas.
aThe ninth plan will take cognisance of this ground
reality, particularly in respect of three critical
components of human settlements development,
namely, drinking water, sanitation and housing.
acevelopment of urban areas as economically efficient,
socially equitable and environmentally sustainable entities;
aAccelerated development of housing, particularly for the
low income groups and other disadvantaged groups;
acevelopment and upgradation of urban infrastructure
services to meet the needs of a growing population;
aAlleviation of urban poverty and unemployment;
aPromoting accessibility and affordability of the poor
to housing and basic services;
aPromoting efficient and affordable mass urban
transportation systems in metropolitan cities;
aImprovement of urban environment;
aPromoting private sector participation in the provision of
public infrastructure and of the community and NGOs in
urban planning and management of specific components of
urban services; and
acemocratic decentralisation and strengthening of
municipal governance.
aThe ninth plan will focus special attention on
households at the lower end of the housing
market, the priority groups identified for such
support, such as eg. People below poverty line ,
SC/ST, disabled, freed bonded laborers, slum
dwellers and women headed households.
aGovernment will, as a facilitator , create an
environment in which access to all the requisite
inputs will be in time, in adequate quantum and
an appropriate quality and standards.
aThere will be provision for more direct
intervention by the government in the case of
lower segments of the housing market and
selected disadvantaged groups.
aA package of incentives and concessions to
attract private sectors would be introduced to
shoulder the task of housing for the poor.
aThe ninth plan will focus special attention on
households at the lower end of the housing
market.
aMinimum housing adequacy norms will be evolved
that would include per capita living space,
structural durability, access to drinking water with
minimum quantitative and qualitative norms,
sanitation facilities and connectivity.
aResponsibility -the states
aState governments will further decentralize the
responsibility to urban local bodies (ulbs) and
panchayati raj institutions (pris),
aProvision for a participatory process to determine
the norms.
a The norms would be the base for working out
state and district housing action plans for both
the urban and rural areas.
aHousing has been always a people's activity and
will continue to be so in the ninth plan, both in
the urban and the rural areas.
aGovernment-facilitator, create the environment
in which access to all the requisite inputs will be
in time, in adequate quantum and of appropriate
quality and standards.
a All housing delivery systems, such as the
cooperatives, private sector, community groups,
and people's self efforts, will be stimulated to
make their contributions to new housing stock as
well as up gradation and renewal of the existing
stock.
a In the case of the cooperatives, the Endeavour
will be to encourage the formation of
cooperatives from the planning stage of the
housing program and maintaining a high continuity
rate of the original members.
aProvision for more direct intervention by the
government in the case of the lower segments of
the housing market and selected disadvantaged
groups
aThe market-driven forces will be a prime mover
of housing development activities, particularly in
the urban areas.
a However, a package of incentives and
concessions to attract private sectors would be
introduced to shoulder the task of housing for the
poor.
aCooperative sector and other public housing
agencies could also be encouraged to share the
responsibility.
aSubsidy would continue to be provided for some
more time and the flow mechanism will be made
transparent and increasingly routed outside the
financial system.
aGovernment has set the goal to provide housing
for all and towards this end it proposes to
facilitate the construction of 20 lakh additional
housing units annually.
aThe focus will be on providing houses to the
houseless, inadequately housed and disadvantaged
groups below poverty line.
aSince ratio of housing shortage between rural and
urban areas is 65:35 as per the NBO statistics
derived from the 1991 census, out of 20 lakh
additional houses 13 lakh will be in the rural areas
and 7 lakh will be in the urban areas
aLand market reforms will be undertaken through
restructuring legal, planning and fiscal provisions.
a A work agenda to implement them will be taken
up.
aLand scarcity is one of the key elements to
development of housing and infrastructure
services.
aThe cabinet has since taken a decision to repeal
ULCRA.
aThe plan will take specific initiatives to promote
and adopt in human settlements programs energy-
saving, eco-friendly and environment-friendly
technologies and building materials.
aNinth Plan agenda will take up the massive task
of up gradation and renewal of old and
dilapidated housing stock.
aIn the urban ,this is a major challenge in the
inner city areas and in the growing slum and
squatter settlements, which have become an
ingenious solution to get shelter perfected by the
people who cannot enter the formal housing
market on their own.
aWithin this category, the Plan will look into the
needs of the households below the poverty line.
aUrban renewal in this direction is crucial to the
health and sustainability of the urban
environment.
aTo build sustainability into the housing of the
urban poor as well as in rural housing, integrated
development of settlement should be promoted,
on the principle of strengthening the linkages and
inter-dependency between shelter and income up
gradation.
aIndia has made a commitment to this approach in
the NHP and the Habitat II National Plan of Action
(NPA).
aTo promote this strategy, the Ninth Plan will
support the use of composite credit instrument,
modify land-use patterns and city master plans
and strengthen the linkages between the farm and
the non-farm sector in the rural and semi-urban
areas.
aThe NGOs and other voluntary organizations
would have to play the role of a catalyst
aThe options and need to upgrade the structure,
especially the roof and the wall, has been
recognized in the NHP and in rural housing
programs.
aThis would reduce the annual maintenance
inputs, including human inputs, and provide
better protection against natural calamities.
aRural housing is also qualitatively different from
urban housing, in that the housing activity is not
very much based on the cash economy but
depends to a considerable extent on land rights
and access to resources.
aRural housing has also emerged as a major
component of rural development programs and, as
such, is considered to be an integral part of rural
development planning
aÒeeping in view the varied range of geo-climatic
conditions and housing typologies in rural areas,
the tasks are stupendous in developing and
managing rural housing programs.
a One set of materials, plans or construction
techniques cannot be applicable across the
country, and hence rural housing requires grass-
root level feedback on housing needs, together
with basic amenities like approach roads, internal
roads, drainage, water supply, sanitation and work
place.
aThe access to rural housing credit, outside the
Government schemes like the IAY, would require
special attention during the Ninth Plan, as also
full access to low-cost materials and appropriate
technology
aLand should be acquired in places where public
land supply may be a constraint and this strategy
should take into account the ecology and
environmental considerations, as also the
appropriateness of the location in terms of the
economic activities and access to basic habitat
services.
aThe IAY would be the main Government
programme for achieving the objective of shelter
for all rural poor. It would continue to be a 100
per cent subsidised programme, targetted
specifically towards providing shelter for the
houseless, inadequately housed and disadvantaged
groups
aThe Ninth Plan would also give a thrust on
improving the quality of houses under the IAY
aGovernment has set a goal to provide housing for
all and towards this end it proposes to facilitate
the construction of twenty lakh additional housing
units annually.

aThe target of additional dwelling units has been

broadly bifurcated as 13 lakh units for rural areas
and 7 lakh units for urban areas.

aBased on the average cost of EWSand LIG housing

units of Rs. 35000 and Rs. 1 lakh respectively the
investment requirement for 7 lakh new units
would be of the order of around Rs. 4000 crores.
aThe extend of funding from institutional finance
is proposed to be 70 per cent and the balance 30
per cent is proposed to be met partly as subsidy
from Central/State Governments and partly as
beneficiary contribution in cash, kind and labour.

aInvestment expected from the institutional

financing bodies would be of the order of Rs. 2800
crores.

aApackage of incentives and concessions is

needed to attract the private sector.
aThe physical targets under SAP are 7 lakh
additional dwelling units annually starting from
second year of the Ninth Plan (1997-2002).
aAssuming that physical output of formal sector
institutions in the implementation of SAP would
be commensurate with the investment
requirement of 70%, the target for formal sector
financial institutions would be 4.9 lakh dwelling
units annually and the balance 2.1 lakh units
would be provided by the beneficiary contribution
,subsidy.
aOut of formal sector institutions HUcCO is
expected to build one third of the total target
namely 2.33 lakh dwelling units annually.
aHowever since there is likely delay in the
implementation of the SAP and HUcCO is
currently engaged with the task of providing
roughly one lakh dwelling units annually through
ongoing schemes the additional target for HUcCO
has been kept at a reduced level of 1.5 lakh
dwelling units for 1998- 99 instead of 2.33 lakh
originally proposed.
aThe shortfall in the current year (0.83 lakh
dwelling units) may be undertaken by other
Formal Sector Institutions. curing the remaining
years of IXth Plan (i.e. 1999-2002), HUcCO could
take up one third of the shortfall in 1998-99 (i.e.
0.83 lakh dwelling units) over and above the
original target of 2.33 lakh dwelling units.
aAs an incentive for taking up the additional
targets in the formal sector through the various
activities/programmes a corpus of approximately
Rs. 100 crores could be set up which could be
utilised for leveraging additional resources for
meeting the requirement of funds for housing of
the deprived sections of the society
aHousing is a State subject. Given the wide
variation in the housing needs in the States and
constraint of resources to meet the housing
needs, State Govts. and UTs would have to play a
critical role in formulating plans and programmes
suited to local needs and conditions in
consultation with the local bodies.
aState Governments would need to identify the
specific agencies for implementation of the Action
Plan. cevelopmment of housing infrastructure and
services has not kept in tune with the growth of
housing.
aThe problem of upgradation and renewal of basic
services like potable drinking water and sanitation
is serious.
aAn integrated programme for land assembly and
infrastructure development particularly water
supply, sanitation, drainage and electric supply
would require to be taken up on a priority basis.
aAction of the State Government would need to
take into account the resource flow from the
private, cooperative and public sectors.
aThe role of the Central Government would be to
guide and facilitate the implementation of Action
Plan.
aThe synergy created with the efficiency of
private sector and experience of the public
agencies would ensure that the overall costs is
kept at minimum.
aAt present it is estimated that approx à


  are being constructed annually in rural
areas under various housing schemes.
aBased on this estimation it was projected that
approx 'à

   (i.e. 12.30 lakh x 5
years) will be added to the overall housing stock
between 1997-2002 Ac at the 1997-98 level of
funding.
aIn addition, from the Additional Central
Assistance (ACA) for BMS which includes rural
housing as one of the seven components, it is
estimated that at least 1.70 lakh additional
housing units would be constructed annually from
1998-99 to 2001-02.
aTherefore, a total of 68.30 lakh units of rural
houses were to be constructed as per earlier
projections.
aUnder the w
 
 
 
an additional à
   are required to
be constructed annually in the rural areas in
addition to the existing 12.3 lakh units per year.

aTherefore, the total houses to be constructed


 would increase commensurately to


.
aThe task for preparing the Action Plan on Rural
Housing has been taken up in the second year of
the Ninth Five Year Plan i.e. 1998-99.
aThe composite housing strategy for the Ninth Five
Year Plan is multi-pronged and includes proposed
modifications in the existing housing schemes and
certain new initiatives.
a Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY)- Main Programme
a Credit-cum-Subsidy Scheme (CCS)
a Cooperative Housing:
a Innovative Stream for Rural Housing and Habitat
cevelopment (ISRHHc)
a National Housing Bank(NHB)
a Basic Minimum Services(BMS) Programmes
Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) ² for construction of new
houses free of cost for the target group below the
poverty line comprising SCs/STs, freed bonded
labourers and also non-SCs/STs families to
continue. In addition, a new component for
upgradation of kutcha and unserviceable houses is
being introduced.
Credit ²cum-subsidy scheme to cover people upto
twice the income level of the Below Poverty Line
families. Assistance in the form of subsidy and
loan on a 50:50 basis within Indira Awas
Yojana(IAY) cost norms.
Cooperative Housing: The cooperative housing
movement has also contributed to the housing
sector by constructing 7.00 lakh units in the rural
areas. It is expected to improve its performance
in the ensuing years of the Ninth Five Year Plan
period.
aInnovative Stream for Rural Housing and Habitat
cevelopment (ISRHHc) ² to encourage the use of
cost effective, environment friendly, scientifically
tested and appropriate indigenous and modern
designs, technologies and materials.
aNational Housing Bank(NHB) ² to finance 1 lakh
housing units under the Swarna Jayanti Housing
Finance Scheme.
aGreater equity participation to HUcCO for
construction of additional houses in rural areas.
aRural Building Centers to facilitate technology
transfer, information dissemination, skill up
gradation and production of cost effective and
environment -friendly materials.
aBasic Minimum Services(BMS) Programs ² Housing
is one of the seven components identified under
the BMS to provide housing to the shelter less
poor in a time bound manner
aIn the first year of the Ninth Plan i.e. 1997-98 the
Central outlay for rural housing (i.e. IAY) was
Rs.1190.00 crore.
aWith this financial provision approximately 7.00
lakh IAY houses were constructed during that year.
aApprox. 5.30 lakh units have been constructed
outside the IAY by various housing agencies and by
the State Governments.
a Therefore the total houses constructed in 1997-
98 were approx 12.30 lakh.
aIn the financial year 1998-99, a Central outlay of
Rs.1600.00 crore has been provided in the Budget
for Rural Housing.
aBased on this central provision it is estimated
that 13.28 lakh houses can be constructed under
the IAY and other housing schemes.

aInaddition 7.50 lakh houses would be constructed

under other rural housing schemes implemented
by the state governments, including rural houses
constructed under BMS, thereby cumulating a
total of 20.78 lakh units in the current year.

aThe end of the ninth plan i.E. 2001-02, 109.53

lakh units would be constructed under various
housing schemes in the rural areas.
aThe IAY is implemented through cistrict Rural
cevelopment Agencies (cRcAs) specially set up in
each district of the country for implementation of
rural development programs or through Zilla
Parishads.
aAt the field level the block machinery is
entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that
targets for construction of houses under IAY are
achieved.
a At the village level the onus is on the gram sabha
to identify and select the beneficiaries.
aHowever, given that most State Governments also
have their own rural housing programs, in order to
facilitate the implementation of a composite
housing plan in the States, it is proposed that the
Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Indira Awas Yojana
be transferred to the State sector.
aThe Credit-cum-Subsidy Scheme and the
Innovative Stream for Rural Housing and Habitat
cevelopment would also be implemented by the
cRcAs/Zilla Parishads.

aThe former scheme would be implemented in

collaboration with financial
institutions/commercial banks, housing boards
with the refinance facility being provided by
HUcCO and the NHB.

aThe Innovative Stream for Rural Housing and

Habitat cevelopment would be implemented on a
project basis through HUcCO/NGOs.
aThe scheme of Rural Building Centres would be
implemented by HUcCO/well known State rural
housing organisations and NGOs through the
cRcAs.
aAmong the other housing schemes being
implemented in the rural areas, the Golden
Jubilee Housing Finance Scheme, which has a
rural component, is being implemented by the
NHB.
aThe NGOs engaged in construction of rural houses
are financed through CAPART.
aThe cepartment of Rural Employment & Poverty
Alleviation in the Ministry of Rural Areas &
Employment is responsible for release of Central
share of funds, overall guidance, policy-making,
monitoring and evaluation of the rural housing
program at the National level.
aThe programme is continuously monitored by
cepartment of Rural Employment & Poverty
Alleviation, on the basis of the monthly reports
received from the States/UTs.
aSenior Officers of the rank of ceputy Secretary
and above in the Ministry are appointed as Area
Officers for different States/UTs.
aThese Area Officers visit the allotted States/UTs
from time to time and inspect among other
programmes the actual implementation of the
rural housing programme in the field
aThey also paprticipate in the State Level
Coordination Committee (SLCC) meetings
providing thereby, an effective link between the
policy makers (Government of India) and the
implementing agencies (State/UT Governments).
aThe programmes are also reviewed at the
meetings with the State Secretaries of Rural
cevelopment and with the Project cirectors of
cRcAs in the Workshops which are held annually.
aThe State Level Coordination Committee (SLCC)
monitors the programme at the State Government
level.
aIn addition to the regular monitoring of the
programmes by the Ministry, the Programme
Evaluation Organisation (PEO) of the Planning
Commission also periodically evaluates
programmes in the rural development sector.
aThe PEO has carried out a quick study of IAY in
1992-93. A system of Concurrent Evaluation has
been evolved by the Ministry of Rural Areas &
Employment under which reputed independent
institutions/research organizations are involved in
undertaking the evaluation work.

aAConcurrent Evaluation of the IAY is being

undertaken on the initiative of cepartment of
Rural Employment & Poverty Alleviation.