JOIN US'Housing for All' scheme fails to take off in J&K
The centrally sponsored “Housing for All Mission” scheme has failed to take off in Jammu and Kashmir as not even a single penny has been spent on the scheme in the past one year since its inception.
In a written reply in Legislative Assembly ton Wednesday, minister for Housing and Urban Development department said the union Ministry of Urban Development had sanctioned an amount of Rs 1.90 crore during 2015-16 under “Housing for All Mission.”
“The amount was received by the department at the fag end of financial year and as such same could not been utilized,” he said.
The reply reads that of the total amount released by the union Ministry Rs 1.46 crore were meant for preparation of action plan and Rs 44 lac were to be utilized for establishment of City Level Technical Cell (CLTC).
“The department has now taken-up the matter with State Finance Department for the re-validation and advance drawl of these funds for its utilization during the current financial year,” the government reply reads.
As per the written reply, around 25 cities/ towns have been selected and approved for the Implementation of Housing for All (Urban) Mission in the first phase during 2015-16 and 2016-17.
“Action Plan for 10 towns has been prepared and Action Plan for other 15 towns is under progress,” reads the reply. Of the 25 towns 11 have been selected from Kashmir while as 12 from Jammu region besides Leh and Kargil from Ladakh region respectively.
The scheme was launched in June 2015 throughout the country with an aim to provide affordable housing to urban poor. Under the scheme it is proposed to build two crore houses for urban poor including economically weaker sections and low income groups in urban areas by 2022 through a financial assistance of Rs two trillion from central government.
Under the scheme, central assistance will be in the range of Rs one to 2.30 lakh and the houses given will be owned by females or jointly with males as well.