(a) whether the poor people are facing difficulty in construction of houses due to increasing cost of construction in the country;
(b) if so, whether the Government proposes to develop any new technique to reduce the cost of construction;
(c) if so, the details thereof;
(d) the total number of houses required in rural areas of the country; and
(e) the number of houses which the Government proposes to construct for the poor in the ensuing year 2012-13 to meet the shortage of houses?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI PRADEEP JAIN `ADITYA`)
(a) to (c): The Government is aware that the present amount of unit assistance is not sufficient to construct a decent house. Though Ministry is not directly involved with developing new technologies to reduce the cost of construction, a new initiative in the form of web-based Knowledge Network for building an updatable repository of knowledge in the rural housing sector in collaboration with IIT, Delhi has been taken for showcasing best practices and case studies of rural housing from various States in terms of technologies used, materials employed, sustainability and cost effectiveness. Further,as per IAY guidelines, efforts are being made to develop appropriate technologies and capacity building at the grassroot level in order to provide affordable house to the rural poor. Zilla Parishad/DRDA are required to contact various organizations/ institutions for seeking expertise information on innovative technologies, materials, designs and methods to help beneficiaries in the construction/upgradation of durable, cost effective and disaster resistant houses.
(d) & (e): As per the estimates made by the Office of Registrar General of India based on 2001 Census, the total housing shortage in rural areas of the country was 148.25 lakh houses. During the current financial year 2012-13, the physical target for construction of houses under Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) is 30.09 lakh houses.