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AMDA
News Knowledge and Experience Exchange Platform |
Volume
I,
Issue 2 |
March
- April 2009 |
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| AMDA
News Knowledge and Experience Exchange Platform |
| Volume I, Issue 1 |
| January - February 2009 |
| Improving
The Quality |
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Seminar
Proceeding |
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NEWSLETTER The Association of Municipalities and Development Authorities (AMDA) organized a two-day National Seminar on “Developing Harmonious & Sustainable Cities in India for a Better Urban Future” on 20-21 March, 2009 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi in collaboration with the Ministry of Urban Development and Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India, Delhi Development Authority, National Housing Bank, National Capital Region Planning Board, Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority, GTZ and UNHABITAT. The Seminar brought about 125 participants representing Central and State Governments, municipalities, development authorities and administrators, experts and academicians from national and international organizations.
The National Seminar was inaugurated by Dr. M. Ramachandran, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India on 20 March, 2009. Dr. Noor Mohammad, Chairman, AMDA and Member Secretary NCR Planning Board welcomed the dignitaries and the participants. Dr. Eduardo Lopez Moreno, Head, City Monitoring Branch, Monitoring and Research Division, UNHABITAT delivered the keynote address. In his welcome address Dr. Noor Mohammad, Chairman AMDA underscored the importance of sustainable human settlements with special emphasis on quality of life, economic efficiency, social justice and political participation. He mentioned that the crucial challenges of urbanization were poverty, slums, environmental upgradation, regional disparities, inequalities, social unrest which call for immediate attention towards cities development system and governance. In the Inaugural session Dr. Ramachandran, launched the UN-Habitat publication on “State of the World’s Cities 2008/2009- Harmonious Cities” in India. In his keynote address Dr. Eduardo Lopez Moreno, Head, City Monitoring Branch, UN-HABITAT, Nairobi outlined the Status of the World Cities in the current scenario. He said that the 21st century is the century of cities. 93% population growth during the next 20 years will be in cities and towns of the developing world. Harmony in cities will require addressing the challenge of meeting significant disparities in the growth of cities in terms of space, services and economic activities. Harmony in space is required to accommodate physical environmental and social concerns. India, according to Dr. Eduardo will be the third economic power by 2050 but will have a larger challenge of addressing the growth and equity. If the high economic growth is not accompanied by a balanced distribution of income and employments opportunities and the benefits of growth do not reach the urban poor, the cities will be highly vulnerable and face social issues such as crime, violence, ethnic conflicts etc. Similarly, environmental conditions of cities have negative externalities in terms of CO2 emissions which require on range of changes in the life style of the people. These considerations are particularly important for atleast 10% of the global population living in coastal areas, half of which are residing in Asia. There was a need to protect the soul of the cities through appropriate actions on urban governance particularly in large metropolitan areas which face the challenge of reducing poverty, slum improvement, affordable housing including supply of land and finance. Dr. M. Ramachandran, Secretary, Union Ministry of Urban Development in his inaugural address said that a world that urbanizes cannot claim to be harmonious if some groups concentrate resources and opportunities while other remain impoverished and marginalized. Urbanization does not necessarily mean unrestrained economic growth that generates poverty and exclusion. Urbanization according to Dr. Ramachandran remains the engine of economic growth. A country’s level of urbanization is directly correlated with its level of economic development. He highlighted various dimensions of harmony which have a direct impact on sustainable urbanization and overall national development. He highlighted the need for a well balanced system of cities in which regional planning plays a key role for more harmonious national development. He also emphasized the need for harmony between the built and natural environment. Referring to growth in India, Dr. Ramachandran said that India’s performance in recent years has been the best in the world. High growth has led to a decline in the incidence of poverty. Urban India, however, is facing several challenges related to weak urban infrastructure and environmental degradation. However, the Central Government has tried to give a big push through the launching of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in 2005. According to Dr. Ramachandran, the main goals of JNNURM are:
(i) improving and expanding the economic and social infrastructure
of cities; These reforms include the repeal of the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act, reform of the Rent Control Act, enacting Public Disclosure Law, the introduction of double-entry accounting at the municipal level, property tax reforms, levy of user charges, devolution of powers based on the 74th Constitution Amendment Act, and reforms to improve the lives of the urban poor. Total budget for the infrastructure programme amounts to Rs. 100,000 crores for the 7-year period up to 2012. However, comprehensive development planning of city regions beyond the formal boundaries of cities is not yet practiced under the JNNURM. It is our hope that the reforms under the JNNURM would indeed deliver effective and efficient urban governance and bring forth financial viability of urban projects through its cost recovery mechanisms. The Programme should reduce pressure on India’s mega-cities, and create adequate infrastructure in other cities across the country. Under the urban renewal mission, 65 cities will benefit from better housing, water and sanitation - and ultimately, better delivery of other basic services such as health, education, and social security. He believed that JNNURM was one of its kind initiative taken by a major developing country like India focusing on the urban issues and there were lessons for countries across the world from this initiative which has been launched in collaboration with the State Governments and the City Governments. The biggest challenge of the JNNURM, according to Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development is to create a cycle of sustained investment and economic growth initiated by a one-time grant allocation to meet the backlog demand in 65 mission cities which now includes the city of Porbandar in Gujarat and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. Dr. Ramachandran also highlighted the need for affordable housing, generating lot of employment opportunities and providing basic urban services. Thus reducing poverty in a big way paves way for Harmonious and Sustainable Cities. He concluded by saying that the goal of Harmonious and Sustainable cities in India was the hope and ambition for near future. The Seminar was structured in six Sessions including a Plenary and five Technical Sessions. The Plenary Session was chaired by Prof. K.C. Sivaramakrishnan, Chairman, Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and Technical Session I to V were chaired by Shri S.P. Jakhanwal, Director General, Amity School of Urban Management; Mr. S. Sridhar, CMD, National Houing Bank; Smt. Susan Mathew, Vice-Chairperson, CMDA; Prof. E.F.N. Ribeiro, Former Director, AMDA and Dr. B.N. Puri, Sr. Consultant, Planning Commission, respectively. Prof. S.R. Hashim, Former Member, Planning Commission in his Valedictory Address, felt that urbansation is very slow. In the last six decade India’s urban growth increased only by 12% whereas China’s urban growth increased from 17% to 46%. We have to really think about this as to why this speed in India is so slow. He thought that something in the mind of planners in India that urbansisation is not good. In the first two Five Year Plans, more emphasis was on rural development with the implication that rural people should be kept in villages. Even in 2nd Five Year Plan, the chapter on Education says that there should be rural university to impart rural skills to rural people, so that they live in rural areas. Why should they only be trained in rural skills why not urban skills. Prof. Hashim said that we have a static social framework in our mind, we think that only elite peoples can live in the cities because they are more cultured, mannered and they are high in incomes. When we plan a city, we plan for a vision and unless, we break through this divide, this frame of mind, this static social framework of mind, will not be able to cope up with what is likely to come in next two decades. Prof. Hashim quoted few words from the famous economist Prof. Amartya Sen’s lecture on education, that in India higher education system is based on old traditions. Education system was also created for the elites. Instead of having pyramid of education, our system produce a column. This is also because of our static social framework of mind. Prof. Hashim focused on one more aspect i.e. India’s process of development. He said if we see the history of developed countries, they have gone through a process of development which takes them from agriculture to manufacturing, to services. In India from agricultural we have directly jumped to services, manufacturing stage has been largely skipped. If industrialization, particularly, manufacturing had not developed, a stage must come when we have to develop manufacturing otherwise we will not be able to give employment to the masses. Now we are creating SEZs for encouraging manufacturing, invite foreign investment, because we have to fill this gap which is skipped. He said that with such a slow pace of urbanization we have not been able to manage problems of informal sector in urban areas. We hardly emphasized the social aspects of planning. In the next two decades we are going from 30 to 50 percent of urbanization, how will we cope up with that speed, I think some of these aspects have to be hammered into our thinking process. If we do not creat jobs, we will have to see that we don’t prevent fresh jobs being created in the cities. Street hawkers, vegetable sellers are selling their fresh products at cheaper rates, but we prevent them because in our elite cities these look dirty. In our city planning we have to create spaces for informal sector. In USA they provide spaces for flea market, where they come and sell on the footpath on open space, in the city. At last he said, we have to think in terms of making provision in our planning. He told that the cities have jobs, that is why rural people come to city. He refered to the ‘Urban Poverty Report- 2009’ and said that the migrant people who come to work in cities are relatively better off, but they don’t have house to live. There is lack of domestic servants, because the poor people do not have a place to live around our locality. Unless we incorporate some of these issues in our thinking, in our city planning, it will be very difficult to deal with the pace of urbanization which is undoubtedly going to be very fast. In the next few decades the growth will pick up and will pressurize for the creation of very large urban metropolis, mega polises. Based on the discussions held in different Sessions, Dr. Kulwant Singh, Director cum Member Secretary, AMDA presented the recommendations of the seminar. RECOMMENDATIONS:
Following were the main recommendations of the Seminar: • It is crucial to address the challenges of urbanization with particular reference to poverty, slums, environmental degradation, regional disparities, inequalities, social unrest. • How to prepare and keep the cities is the key concern as the urban population in the world has overtaken the rural population; 93% population growth in next 20 years will be in cities and towns and there are significant disparities in the growth of cities in terms of space, services and economic activities. • Harmony in space is required to accommodate physical, environmental and social concerns. • India is projected to be the third economic power by 2050 and will have a larger challenge to address the growth and equity. • The high economic growth is not accompanied by a balanced distribution of income and employment opportunities. Benefits of growth are not reaching to poor. The cities are vulnerable for social issues such as crime, violence, ethnic conflicts etc. • Environmental condition of cities has negative externalities in terms of CO2 emissions which require a range of changes in life style management. • There is a need to protect soul of city through appropriate actions on governance structure for a larger metropolitan area, reduction of poverty, slum improvement, supply of land, finance and housing. • Harmony of cities is a process involving harmony of space, wealth and resources. It is a journey and not a destination and therefore all partners in the journey need to contribute to the best of the ability. • Development of harmony is required in a three-pronged strategy: i) Synergy between urban, regional and local planning; ii) Social harmony within cities to have social justice and equity through low-cost infrastructure and service; and iii) Harmony between built and natural environment covering sustainability of eco-systems and cost effective environmental solutions. Plenary Session: Harmonious and Sustainable Urbanisation • In order to create harmonious cities emphasis should be on: pro-poor policies; slum development programmes; protecting cultural assets. • Preservation of cultural properties and heritage site to be protected from massive urban sprawl. • Economic sustainability of heritage site through tourism development. • Long term planning for infrastructure. • Protection of bio-diversity and linking of river with appropriate infrastructure • 74th Amendments do not mention cities but municipalities implying both small and big urban settlements. • State Town Planning Laws are not upgraded in many states. • Planning around people, rather than space should be focused with social and economic change. • Constitution Amendment Act is necessary but not sufficient; It is a supply side attempt at decentralization. There is not sufficient demand-driven involvement. • It creates a bottleneck towards inclusiveness. • There is still significant apathy from the state governments to share power with the local bodies. Changing characteristics of the stakeholders also need to be considered in order to create harmonious and sustainable cities. Technical Session I: Promoting Social Equity and Inclusiveness in India Cities • There is need to look at the conventional planning tools like Master Plans, FAR and other development control regulations to rationalize an optimum use of land / housing in cities. • New instruments need to be devised such as ‘Shelter Fund’ to extend housing credits to the urban poor. • Partnerships need to be forged with Private Partners in making housing available to urban poor, under a carefully designed policy framework. • For the urban poor options such as Rental Housing should be promoted in cities. • Land in cities need to be analyzed not only from its real estate commercial value but also from the perspective of its social value. Technical Session II: Making Indian Cities Economically Productive and More Equitable • Municipal functions should be classified into core and other functions. • Industrial areas should not be exempted from formation of urban local bodies. • Central Finance Commissions should provide grant-in-aid to ULBs linked to certain central taxes. • There should be legislative provision for enabling private sector participation in provision of municipal services. • Road Map for capacity building to recognize role of local government, participatory governance, inclusive planning, resource mobilization, equitable allocation, adequate access to services and shelters, income and employment generation. • In order to achieve ‘water and sanitation for all’, policy reforms, institutional reforms and behavior change are required. • Harmonious cities entail the synchronization and integration of all of the Earth’s assets, whether they are physical, environmental, cultural, historical, social or human. • Planning for harmonious cities requires coordination and collaboration between central, state and local authorities in order to achieve harmonious regional and urban development, provided they share a common vision and demonstrate sufficient political will. Technical Session III: Harmonizing the Built and Natural Environment of Indian Cities • The built environment of cities has to be sustainable in synergy with the Natural environment on the principle of “with no regrets policy”. • Energy audit and retrofitting should be part of regular planning design and monitoring process to create and maintain built environment of cities. • All efforts should be made to reduce the use of fossil fuels and increase renewable energy options including ‘Solar energy’. • Solid Waste Management may be made more effective and efficient by having a long term land use planning with no development plans in 500 meter distance around the landfill site. • There is need to have a public awareness programme to make people more cooperative with change of their perception towards this aspect and have sympathetic attitude towards people involved in waste collection and management. • All rules and regulations related to solid waste management have to be in tune with the Carbon Credit Trading System evolved globally to mitigate the ill-effects of climate change. • There has to be Citizen Centered Governance, considering gender issues, sensitivity to urban poor and involving CBO and NGOs. • There is need to have a Dedicated Training Mechanism for Capacity Building of ULBs in every state and urban centre. Technical Session IV: Preserving the Historical Roots and Soul of the Indian Cities • Living heritage of Natural and Built Environment, as well as socio-cultural activities has to be planned together in an integrated manner. • It is important to have an accurate mapping of such heritage areas and built environment with provision of updating periodically. • Instead of Environment Management Plan it is better and more holistic to have Urban – Ecological- Management Plan. • Efforts should be made to make people aware and actively participate in decision making process like evolving Urban Development Plan – which may be conceived as a living document for all citizen including urban poor. Technical Session V: Developing Indian Cities for All Generations • A Multi Modal Transportation System is desirable with an objective to: reduce travel time; improve accessibility; meet travel demand and supply; transport services; traffic operation; travel information; coordination; and integration and intelligent transport system application. • Public transport system for sustainable cities should be accessible and provide ways to reduce transport demand by reducing transport intensity; positive measure for public transport both in public and private sector. • Planning for transport in cities to let the cities be livable, improve safety on roads, promote cycles and cycle tracks • Value of good governance emphasizes value based administration. 1.2 SEMINAR ON CITIES AND CLIMATE CHANGE The Association of Municipalities and Development Authorities (AMDA) organized a Seminar with the partnership of UN-ESCAP on Wednesday, 4 March, 2009 in New Delhi. The Seminar was inaugurated by Dr. M. Ramachandran, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India and was chaired by Dr. Noor Mohammad, Chairman, AMDA and Member Secretary, NCR Planning Board. Dr. Mohammad in his opening remarks said that the manner in which our cities are planned and managed determines to a large extent, the pace of global warming. According to him local authorities will have to be the front line actors in finding local answers to these global challenges. In his inaugural speech, Dr. Ramachandran said that cities are the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and are also most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The poor people often live in illegal settlements on land susceptible to climate change-floodplains, coastal lowlands or unstable hillsides. Climate change will add to their problems. Urban Planning, according to Secretary Urban Development, has an important sustainability component from the perspectives of mitigation as well as adaptation.
Dr. Ramachandran, released a set of Quick Guides for Policy Makers on Housing the Poor in Asian Cities. Mr. Adnan Hameed Aliani, Head, Sustainable Urban Development Unit, UN-ESCAP, Bangkok gave a Conceptual Overview of Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation and Financing in Cities and Towns of Asia and the Pacific. He explained that earth is getting warmer due to rapid increase of “Green House Gases” (GHGs). This phenomenon is known as “Global Warming” and changes in the atmosphere are known as “Climate Change”. In order to reduce the impact of cities on climate change, according to Mr. Aliani, strategies will have to be prepared for climate change mitigation and also preparing for climate change adaptation. This needs to be done in partnership with developed countries, developing countries, central and local governments, civil society and private sector. The presentation was followed by a discussion with the participants. Among the participants the most significant were Mr. U.S. Jolly former Principal Commissioner, DDA, Dr. M.L. Khurana, Executive Director, National Cooperative Housing Federation (NCHF), Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, Founder, Sulabh International, Mr. Ashok Jaitly, Distinguished Fellow & Director, Water Resources Division, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Mr. Dhirendra Krishna, I.A.A.S National Institute of Public Auditors, Ms. Tanushree of UNDP, Ms. Sharadbala Joshi of UN-HABITAT and Mr. Vishal Goyal of National Housing Bank, Dr. T,N. Gupta, former Executive Director, Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC), Government of India, Mr. Rajiv Malhotra, Chief Regional Planner, National Capital Region Planning Board, Mr. B.N. Singh, Former Director, AMDA, Mr. S.C. Gupta, former Addl. Commissioner (Planning), DDA, Prof. H.B. Singh, School of Planning and Architecture, Mr. V.P. Mittal, former Chief Architect Planner, Ghaziabad Development Authority. During the discussion Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, Founder Sulabh International explained the strategies being adopted for reducing the impact of climate change. Dr. M. L. Khurana, Executive Director, NCHF, outlined the emerging role of cooperatives for providing affordable housing for the slum dwellers as part of the strategy to meet the climate change. Dr. T.N. Gupta, former Executive Director, Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC),Government of India argued for use of energy efficient building materials and technologies. Mr. B.N. Singh former Director AMDA explained the role of District Planning Committees and Metropolitan Planning Committees in the implementation of National Action Plan for Climate Change. Mr. Dhirendra Krishna argued for creating greater public awareness for civil society participation in efforts to adopt and implement mitigation and adaptation strategies. The Seminar was ended with a vote of thanks by Dr. Kulwant Singh, Director, AMDA. 1.3 2010 - THE YEAR FOR ‘AFFORDABLE HOUSING The National Conference of Ministers of Housing, Urban Development and Municipal Administration was held on 20 January 2009, at New Delhi. The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Kumari Selja, highlighted that growth of large cities is accompanied by an upsurge in urban poverty where in absence of basic services, secure tenure and formal employment opportunities, the settlements of the poor become slums with health and environmental concerns. A major recommendation of the conference was that the year 2010 may be declared as the year for ‘affordable housing’. The other recommendations were: • State specific policy, focusing on Affordable Housing with supporting The 57th National Town and Country Planners’ (NTCP) Congress on ‘The District Regional Development Plan was inaugurated by Shri S.S. Sidhu, Governor of Goa during 23-25 January 2009 organised by the Institute of Town Planners. The following are the some of the major recommendations by the Congress sessions: Scope and Methodologies • Recognising the role of politics and governance, it is recommended that selective choice options and mechanisms be provided within the district regional plans to develop a sense of commitment towards successful implementation of the plans. action plans, for augmenting supply of land at affordable prices should be developed. • States should draw up the road map and a vision for ‘Slum Free City’. • Banks should make reservation of at least one per cent of their priority sector lending funds for EWS housing. • Review of existing legal and regulatory framework for acquiring / bringing-in additional lands into the market should be initiated and secure land tenure may be extended to families living in slums. • Modification of state enactments and city level master plans for upward revision of FAR / FSI to accommodate land allocation for EWS and LIG should be taken up. • Private developers, ready to undertake construction of affordable housing in partnership or in a JV with the state, may be involved. • Institutional mechanisms to compile regularly the data on housing should be established. • Steps may be taken to create a healthy rental market in housing. • Easy availability of housing finance at concessional rates should be ensured. • Housing Micro-finance should be strengthen and enlarged. Source: SDR, Vol.16, No.1, January-Feburary 2009 1.4 RECEMNDATIONS OF 57TH NTCP CONGRESS ON DISTRICT REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN The 57th National Town and Country Planners’ (NTCP) Congress on ‘The District Regional Development Plan was inaugurated by Shri S.S. Sidhu, Governor of Goa during 23-25 January 2009 organised by the Institute of Town Planners. The following are the some of the major recommendations by the Congress sessions: Scope and Methodologies • Recognising the role of politics and governance, it is recommended that selective choice options and mechanisms be provided within the district regional plans to develop a sense of commitment towards successful implementation of the plans. action plans, for augmenting supply of land at affordable prices should be developed. • States should draw up the road map and a vision for ‘Slum Free City’. • Banks should make reservation of at least one per cent of their priority sector lending funds for EWS housing. • Review of existing legal and regulatory framework for acquiring / bringing-in additional lands into the market should be initiated and secure land tenure may be extended to families living in slums. • Modification of state enactments and city level master plans for upward revision of FAR / FSI to accommodate land allocation for EWS and LIG should be taken up. • Private developers, ready to undertake construction of affordable housing in partnership or in a JV with the state, may be involved. • Institutional mechanisms to compile regularly the data on housing should be established. • Steps may be taken to create a healthy rental market in housing. • Easy availability of housing finance at concessional rates should be ensured. • Housing Micro-finance should be strengthen and enlarged. Source: SDR, Vol.16, No.1, January-Feburary 2009 • District Assessment and Development Strategies (DADS) based on detailed studies, critical analysis, and assessment of available resources coupled with analysis of the specific problems and potentials of the district should be used as methodology for preparing realistic district regional plans. District regional planning methodologies must remove mismatch between the urban and rural settlements; sectoral and spatial planning; and top down and bottom up approach in order to make district regional plans more effective and efficient. • The district and metropolitan regional development plans shall have all required technical inputs with objectives and targets in respect of water resource management, environmental considerations, spatial distribution of development projects and disaster management. • Role of town planners and spatial planning is most critical and must recognised in preparing rational, realistic and implementable district regional development plans in order to launch India on the path of social, economic, and physical development. Convergence of Regional Development Plans and Governance • District regional plans should reconcile and accommodate local needs by taking cognisance of the state visions and national priorities. • While sectoral allocation flow from the central and state plans, the spatial location and distribution will become meaningful only if state urbanisation and regional development policies are put in place. The state vision and district plans therefore should have mutual respect for forward and backward linkages. • To have Vision Plan for States as a whole, broad regional perspective plan for the metropolitan districts and other district of the state; specific development plans for all settlements (municipal and p anchoyat) within the district; detail local area plan for each ward of the settlement should be prepared. Metropolitan Regions and Districts • The district and metropolitan regional development plans shall have all required technical inputs with objectives and targets in respect of water resource management, environmental cons iderations, distribution of development projects and disaster management. Metropolitan Development Authorities should be made planning secretariat of MPCs along with their planning staff. • District Town and Country Planning Office should be made responsible for the preparation of Draft District Plan and periodic revision and updating of the same. It shall also be responsible for the preparation of maps at district, block and panchayat level. Peoples’ Movement in Development Planning • Regional plans should adopt participatory planning approaches from grass roots level. • For inclusive development throughout India, there is a need to adopt integrated system for socioeconomic investments and public participation as mandatory in planning practice. • Mechanisms of public participation should be made effective at every stage of plan preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation for which necessary provision needs to be made in the existing planning laws. General Recommendations • The Constitutional provisions under 73rd and 74th CAA provide for consolidation of proposals from the urban and rural local bodies. Accordingly, required institutional mechanisms with necessary deployment of professional town and country planners are required to be set up. • District Planning Committees should immediately be made operational and they should be encouraged to formulate specific time bound plans for removing regional disparities. • State Planning Commissions should have the core office of town and country planners, who should help to integrate various sectoral programmes outlined in the five year plans into spatial frames which could become the starting point for various district plans to prepare and spell out their priorities before the state plans are finalised. • State Town and Country Planning Departments should be strengthened to evolve urbanisation policy on a continuous basis and also to appoint district town and country planning officers who can become part of the planning secretariat for each district. • Based on the experience gained from the Kollam Model of Development Plan, an exercise for designing a fast track district development plan along with its handbook, manuals, tool kit, etc; may be prepared. Source: SDR, Vol.16 No. 1 January – February 2009 1.5 GUIDELINES for INTEREST SUBSIDY SCHEME FOR HOUSING THE URBAN POOR (ISHUP) A major initiative has been launched the guidelines to implement the policy agenda of the Government of India on “affordable housing for all” by the MH&UPA in February, 2009. This guidelines is for the provision of housing for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Low Income Group (LIG) through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India has designed an Interest Subsidy Scheme as an additional instrument for addressing the housing needs of the EWS/LIG segments in urban areas. The Scheme envisages the provision of interest subsidy to EWS and LIG segments to enable them to buy or construct houses. Broad Features of the Scheme • Purpose – The Scheme will provide home loan with Central Government subsidy to EWS/LIG persons for acquisition of house as also for construction of house to such beneficiary, who does not own a house in his/her name or in the name of his/her spouse or any dependent child. Such beneficiaries who own land in any urban area but do not have any pucca house in their name or in the name of their spouse or any dependent child will also be covered under the scheme. • Eligibility – The economic parameter of EWS is defined as households having an average monthly income upto Rs. 3,300 and the economic parameter of LIG is defined as households having an average monthly income between Rs. 3,301 upto Rs.7,300. This will be subject to revision by the Steering Committee of the Scheme from time to time. • Loan amount admissible – The scheme will provide a subsidized loan for 15-20 years for a maximum amount of Rs. 1,00,000 for an EWS individual for a house at least of 25 sq.mts. Additional loans, if needed would be at unsubsidized rates. Terms for Loan and Subsidy Reimbursement • The subsidy will be 5% p.a. on interest charged on the admissible loan amount for EWS and LIG, over the full period of the loan for construction or acquisition of a new house. The subsidy will be passed on as follows:- • The Net Present Value (NPV) of this subsidy will be arrived at on the basis of national discount rate of 9% p.a., (equivalent to Government Security rate) for the period of the loan and on the interest chargeable at the time the loan is contracted. § Loan repayment periods will be permissible generally ranging from 15-20 years. • The Nodal agencies for the scheme will be he National Housing Bank (NHB) and Housing & Urban Development Corporation Ltd. Selection of beneficiaries • The borrowers under the scheme must belong to the EWS or LIG, and must have a plot of land for the construction or have identified a purchasable house. Borrowers would be free to approach and negotiate a loan under the Scheme directly with the lender. However, it is envisaged that such borrowers would be few. Most borrowers and lenders would require the intercession of State Governments/ Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to identify borrowers with land, help them with preparation of papers and liase for them with the lenders. Steering committee • A Steering Committee under the Chairmanship of Secretary, MH&UPA and members drawn from select State Governments, Senior Executives from Ministry of Finance, Reserve Bank of India, NHB, HUDCO, eminent bankers & social researchers/workers in the field of urban housing, finance and allied areas will be set up by the MH&UPA and will be responsible for suggesting and deciding on operational instructions, monitoring the implementation of the Scheme and advising adjustments as necessary for the implementation of the scheme in keeping with the guidelines of the scheme. Role of the Central Government The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation will: • implement the scheme including review and monitoring of the outcome of the scheme; • release the subsidy to Nodal agencies, viz., National Housing Bank and HUDCO on a quarterly basis on receiving a request. Second and subsequent installments will be released on a revolving basis on the basis of 70% utilization; • undertake wide media campaign and awareness programmes; • develop MIS at National level to monitor the scheme. Role of the State Governments/Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) State Governments/ULBs will: • identify a local level nodal agency and inform MH&UPA of the nodal agency identified. Such local level nodal agency will identify, motivate and organize beneficiaries to seek loans for building or buying houses; • help local level nodal agency to identify and motivate beneficiaries who have land and are prepared to build for themselves including beneficiaries within urban limits of homestead schemes being implemented by the State Governments/ ULBs. In identifying beneficiaries nodal agency/ULB will seek to follow a cluster approach, as also encourage and assist beneficiaries to form Group Housing Societies; • assist lenders in identifying beneficiaries and undertaking verification as per guidelines of the Steering Committee. Role of Central Nodal Agencies • The National Housing Bank (NHB) and Housing & Urban Development Corporation Ltd. (HUDCO) will be the Central Nodal Agencies (CNAs) for disbursement of the subsidy and monitoring the progress. NHB/ HUDCO will enlist lending agencies with the approval of the Steering Committee who will disburse loans under the Scheme. • NHB/HUDCO will release NPV based subsidy to the Banks/ Housing Finance Institutions (HFIs) availing their services on a quarterly basis as decided by the Steering Committee. Role of Banks/Housing Finance Institutions (HFIs) • Banks/Housing Finance Institutions (HFIs) i.e. HFCs, MFIs etc, will have the option to avail the resources of either of the Nodal Agencies for the period of the Scheme. • Banks/HFIs will have to provide Utilisation/End use Certificate to NHB/HUDCO on a half yearly basis. § Banks/HFIs will provide each loanee a statement which will make him/ her understand the amount given as subsidy, how the subsidy has been adjusted and the impact of the subsidy on his/her EMI. • Banks/HFIs will clearly explain to the borrowers the consequences of availing loan on fixed/ floating rates of interest. Evaluation and Mid-Course Adjustments • A detailed review of provision of subsidy by PLIs to EWS & LIG beneficiaries will be undertaken by the Ministry through an external institution of repute after every 2 years. Such reviews are intended with a view to making mid-course adjustments and improvements in the implementation of the Interest Subsidy Scheme. 1.5 STOCKHOLM WATER PRIZE - 2009 LAUREATE TO FOUNDER OF SULABH
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