Urban News

  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size
Slum Development / Housing

Banks reluctant to give JNNURM housing loans

Thursday, 18 November 2010 07:26 administrator
Print PDF

The Hindu  18.11.2010

Banks reluctant to give JNNURM housing loans

G.V.R. Subba Rao

As many as 4,382 beneficiaries in the city eagerly await sanction
The Union Government, in all, sanctioned 21,752 houses for Vijayawada

VMC shouldered Rs.13 crore towards loan component of beneficiaries

VIJAYAWADA: The disinclination of banks to sanction loans to beneficiaries of housing under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission has turned into a stumbling block for the progress of the scheme in the city.

As many as 4,382 beneficiaries in the city are eagerly awaiting sanction of bank loan. The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation completed construction of 5,440 houses and allotted 3,874 of them to beneficiaries during the last couple of years. Many of them have occupied the houses as well. The Corporation is shouldering the burden of beneficiaries' loan component too, as the bankers have not sanctioned loans to many applicants because tenure rights have not been accorded to the beneficiaries till now. The Corporation bore about Rs.13 crore toward loan component until now, official sources say.

The bankers, sources say, are not willing to sanction loans to the beneficiaries. The bankers told the State government that they were unable to process the loan applications as the audit team raised a few objections. The bankers, referring to the audit objections, stated that the loans could be issued only if JNNURM housing was brought under the purview of the Andhra Pradesh Revenue Recovery Act, 1864.

Principal Secretary of Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department held a meeting with bankers and commissioners of mission cities on October 20 to sort out these issues.

Caveat

Subsequently, it was decided to include a caveat related to recovery of bank dues as per the AP R&R Act, 1864 in the title deed being issued to the beneficiaries. The municipal corporations would float a revolving fund of Rs. 5 lakh to pay upfront registration charges on behalf of the beneficiaries. The charges would be recovered from the bank as part of the loan repayable by the beneficiary. The bankers were asked to disburse at least 20,000 loans in mission cities before December 15, sources say.

The Union Government, in all, sanctioned 21,752 houses for Vijayawada under Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP), a sub-mission of JNNURM. Of these, 14,968 houses were proposed to be taken up in phase-I and 6,784 in phase-II. The State government pegged the unit cost of the houses taken up in phase-I at Rs.1.32 lakh and those of phase-II at Rs.1.40 lakh. Of this, the beneficiaries will have to pay Rs. 10,000 as contribution for allotment of a dwelling unit, and also agree to repay a bank loan of Rs. 30,000. The VMC officials hope that the bankers would sanction loans following the Government's assurance.

Last Updated on Thursday, 18 November 2010 07:27
 

DDA needs more time, new housing scheme by month-end

Tuesday, 16 November 2010 10:59 administrator
Print PDF

Indian Express  16.11.2010

DDA needs more time, new housing scheme by month-end

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which was to announce its new mega housing scheme by November 15, has revised the dates and will now announce the scheme by the end of this month.

“The details of the scheme are finalised and we are in the process of printing brochures and ironing out the loose ends. The scheme will most certainly be announced by the end of this month,” said a senior official in DDA’s Housing department.

Almost 15,000 houses in areas such as Vasant Kunj, Narela, Dwarka, Rohini, Mukherjee Nagar and Jasola will be up for allotment by DDA’s usual draw of lots system, and the scheme is expected to draw a huge response. While the DDA is being tightlipped about the number of houses in each area, sources revealed that approximately 4,000 to 5,000 houses will be in the newly developed D-6 Vasant Kunj. The houses in Vasant Kunj reportedly also have new design elements, a shift from DDA’s usual style.

“There is no major design overhaul, but the flats in Vasant Kunj have kitchens that are designed better and also more aesthetic window frames,” a DDA official said.

The houses will be spread across various categories such as Low Income Group, Mid Income Group, and High Income Group, and will consist of units that have anywhere between one to five bedrooms.

While the pricing of the houses remains unclear, sources in the DDA point out the prices are likely to be 10 to 15 per cent higher than the Authority’s last scheme. The DDA’s last scheme was announced in 2008 and the houses then were priced between Rs 7.2 lakh and Rs 77.8 lakh, depending on the size and location of the flats. Even if the prices are higher, it will be vastly below than those of private builders.

As with all DDA housing schemes, this one too is expected to draw large crowds, perhaps the largest so far.

When the DDA put up 5,000 houses on draw in 2008, it received over 2 lakh applications. Based on the 2008 rush, the DDA is expecting to draw anywhere between 6 and 8 lakh applications for the new scheme.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 November 2010 11:01
 

Maha slum definition flawed: Panel report

Tuesday, 16 November 2010 09:47 administrator
Print PDF

The Times of India                  16.11.2010

Maha slum definition flawed: Panel report

 MUMBAI: An expert committee of the Union housing and urban poverty alleviation ministry has pointed out in a report how some major states, including Maharashtra, have "grossly underestimated their slum population" by not using proper parameters.

The report, submitted to the ministry recently, said Maharashtra and the other states did not use a comprehensive definition for a squatter and some cases did not consider "non-notified slums where there was a land dispute" while mapping the growth of squatters. "As a consequence, there was gross underestimation of the state's and Mumbai's slum population," the report said.

The ministry had appointed the committee to come up with accurate slum data for better implementation of Rajiv Awas Yojana, which aims to make India slum-free. The committee report said there was no clear definition of "slums" in the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance & Redevelopment) Act, 1971. Section (2) of the act defines a "slum area" as "any area that is a source of danger to the health, safety and convenience of the public of that area, or by reason of the area having inadequate or no basic amenities, or being insanitary, squalid, overcrowded or otherwise". Other factors such as the narrowness of lanes, lack of light, sanitation and ventilation, overcrowding and dilapidation are also taken into account.

The report said "there was a significant difference in the definition of slums used internationally and in states of India". After studying various alternatives and keeping in mind the need to use a definition suitable for public policy purposes, the panel decided to adopt the definition used by National Sample Survey Organization as its working concept.

NSSO defines a slum as "a compact settlement of at least 20 households with a collection of poorly built tenements, mostly of temporary nature, crowded together usually with inadequate sanitary and drinking water facilities in unhygienic conditions".

The panel found that by applying the NSSO definition, Mumbai's slum population was 6.5 million in the 2001 census. Under the new methodology of NSSO, it was estimated at 6.8 million. The corresponding figure for next year was estimated at 8.68 million.

 
More Articles...


Page 56 of 118