Bill on property rights to slumdwellers in the works
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Millions of slum dwellers across India could soon aspire to become home owners.
The Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry is all set to finalize the draft Model Property Rights to Slum Dwellers Bill which, once enacted by states, would for the first time give landless slum-dweller living in an urban area long term legal entitlement to a “dwelling place.”
Besides, the slum dwellers would also be given the right to mortgage their property and raise money from banks to build their house. The ministry has set 15 years as the minimum period for which a property can be given on lease to a slum dweller.
“The final bill will be ready this week. Since it’s a model bill we will circulate it to the states to implement it once we get it approved by the cabinet,” said Ajay Maken soon after taking charge as the new Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation minister on Tuesday.
Maken said that though it’s a model bill, there is a rider that states who do not implement it would not get any monetary incentive under Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), the UPA government’s ambitious slum free initiative which was formally launched in 2011.
According to a ministry report, urban slum population in India is expected to cross the 100 million mark by 2017.
