MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOUSING & URBAN POVERTY ALLEVIATION(KUMARI SELJA)
(a)&(b): Yes, Sir.
(c): Apart from the Sub-mission on Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) and Integrated Housing and Slum
Development Programme(IHSDP) under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission(JNNURM), an amount of Rs.30 crores has
been allocated in the budget for 2007-08 for an Interest Subsidy Scheme for provision of housing to the
Economically Weaker Section (EWS)/Low Income Group (LIG) of the society.Further,the National Urban Housing and
Habitat Policy seeks to bridge the gap between need and supply of housing and infrastructure and inter-alia provides
for accelerating the pace of development of housing and related infrastructure;creating adequate and affordable
housing stock both on rental and ownership basis,including by use and promotion of cost effective building
materials/technology; encouraging State Governments/DevelopmentAuthorities to periodically review their master plans and
zonal plans;and facilitating accelerated supply of serviced land for housing with particular focus on EWS and LIG Groups.
(d)&(e): Yes,Sir.The Central Sector Scheme of `Urban Statistics for Human Resources (HR) and Assessments (USHA)`
aims at the development and maintenance of a national database,MIS and knowledge repository relating to urban poverty,
slums,housing, construction and other urbanization-related statistics.Its key objective is to support the Ministry of
Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, other Ministries and State Governments with an information base and knowledge
inputs for the purpose of planning,policy-making,project design,formulation,implementation,monitoring and evaluation,
particularly in the context of programmes relating to urban poverty,slums and housing.The four pillars of USHA are
database including MIS and sample surveys;action research; impact assessment and capacity building/training.The
scheme has the following objectives:-
(i) Data centre and MIS on urban poverty,slums,housing,building construction and related urbanization Statistics.
(ii) One time grants to State Governments/UT Administrations for computerization.
(iii) Knowledge Centre/National Resource Centre for Urban Poverty,Slums and Housing Statistics.
(iv) Sample Surveys in areas of urban poverty, slums,housing and building construction.
(v) Socio-Economic research studies in areas of urban poverty, slums,housing and building construction.
(vi) Capacity Building & Training in areas of urban poverty,slums, housing and building construction.
