HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS

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HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS

BestCurrentAffairs.com Urban development is a state subject and the Constitution (Seventy-Fourth) Amendment Act, 1992 enjoins upon the state governments to delegate many functions to urban local bodies.  As per the Census of India 2011, the population of India is 1,210.50 million, of which 377.10 million (31.2 per cent) is urban and 833.40 million (68.8 per cent) is rural. The urban population is located in 7,933 towns, comprising 4,041 statutory towns and 3,892 census towns. During 2000-11, in absolute terms, the decadal increase in urban population was 90.99 million vis-à-vis 90.97 million in rural population. At current rate of growth, urban population estimated to reach a staggering 575 million by 2030 and 875 million by 2050.  Mission Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) for ensuring housing for all in urban areas was launched in 2015 which is to be implemented during 2015-22. The Mission provides central assistance to all eligible families/ beneficiaries across all statutory towns for houses included under the mission.  EWS family has been defined as family with annual income upto ₹ 3 lakh and LIG with annual income between ₹ 3-6 lakh.  The Smart Cities Mission was launched in 2015. The objective of the Mission is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘Smart’ solutions.  The core infrastructure elements in a smart city would include: (i) adequate water supply; (ii) assured electricity supply; sanitation, including solid waste management; (iii) efficient urban mobility and public transport; (iv) affordable housing, especially for the poor; (v) robust IT connectivity and digitalization; (vi) good governance, especially e-Governance and citizen participation; (vii) sustainable environment; (viii) safety and security of citizens, particularly women, children and the elderly; and (ix) health and education.  The 100 cities under the Mission have proposed to execute 5,151 projects worth ₹ 2,05,018 crore in 5 years from their respective dates of selection.  The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) was launched in 2015. In all, 500 cities have been included in the Mission. All Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) with a population of one lakh or more, all other capital cities of states/ UTs, all Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) cities, identified cities on the stem of the main rivers, from hill states, islands and tourist destinations. Approximately 60 per cent of urban population in the country is covered under AMRUT. It is a centrally sponsored scheme with a total outlay of rupees one lakh crore including a Central Assistance of ₹ 50,000 crore spread over 5 years i.e., from 2015-16 to 2019-2020. The balance share of ₹ 50,000 crore has to come from states and ULBs.  The National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), a central sector scheme of the Government of India was launched in 2015.  The scheme is being implemented in 12 identified citiescnamely, Ajmer, Amaravati, Amritsar, Badami, Dwarka, Gaya, Kanchipuram, Mathura, Puri, Varanasi, Velankanni and Warangal.  Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has been implementing a centrally sponsored scheme Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) since 2013 for reducing the poverty and vulnerability of urban poor households.  Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) was passed by the Parliament in March, 2016 heralding a new era of transformation in the real estate sector. The core objective of this transformative legislation is to ensure regulation and promotion of real estate sector in an efficient manner and to protect the interest of home buyers. The Act is applicable to all the states/UTs, except Jammu & Kashmir. Most of the states/UTs have notified the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules.  In last year, 9 Regular and Real Estate Appellate Tribunals have been set up by states/UTs.  The objective of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 is to protect the rights of urban street vendors and to regulate street vending activities.  Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is the nodal Ministry for planning and coordination of Urban Transport matters at the central level.  The Government of India formulated a National Urban Transport Policy in 2006.  I-Metros (Indian Metro Rail Organisations’ Society): A platform to exchange ideas, pooling of knowledge and sharing of experience, best practices, innovations etc. among the Indian metro rail companies to nurture excellence in performance, was launched in March 2018.