THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT (SHRI SAUGATA ROY)
(a) to (f) : A Statement is laid on the Table of the Sabha.
STATEMENT
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 124 FOR 5-3-2010 REGARDING ASSESSMENT OF URBAN POVERTY
(a): As per the estimates of the Planning Commission, based on the Uniform Recall Period method, the number of urban poor population has increased from 76.34 million to 80.80 million during the period 1993-94 to 2004-05;
(b) & (c): The Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation has brought out ‘India Urban Poverty Report 2009’ containing research papers/ academic papers on key facets of urban poverty such as economic development and urban poverty, gender dimensions of urban poverty, poverty and migration, unorganized sector and urban poverty, etc. The Report, based on study findings, reveals that
(i) rural migrants into urban areas have lower probability of being poor than the local population and
(ii) among migrants, the incidence of poverty is higher for rural-urban migrants compared to urban-urban migrants.
(d) & (e): The ‘India Urban Poverty Report 2009’ contains 16 Chapters, viz.
(i). Economic Development and Urban Poverty
(ii). The Gender dimensions of Urban Poverty
(iii). Poverty and Migration: Does Moving Help?
(iv). The Unorganized Sector and Urban Poverty: Issue of Livelihood
(v). Changing Sectoral Profile of the Urban Economy and Implications for Urban Poverty
(vi). Urban Microfinance in the context of Urban Poverty
(vii). The Millennium Development Goals and the Role of Cities
(viii). Access to Basic Amenities and Urban Security: An Interstate Analysis with a focus on
the Social Sustainability of Cities
(ix). The Poor and Morphology of Cities
(x). Urban Land Market and Access of the Poor
(xi). Basic Services for the Urban Poor: Innovative Actions and Interventions
(xii). Access of the Urban Poor to Health and Education Services
(xiii) Alleviating Urban Poverty: Income Growth, Income Distribution or Decentralization
(xiv) Elite Capture and Marginalization of the Poor in Participatory Urban Governance: A case of Resident Welfare Associations in Metro Cities
(xv) Living rough Surviving City Streets: A study of the homeless Population Delhi, Chennai, Patna and Madurai
(xvi) Urban Informal Sector: The need for a bottom up agenda of economic reforms- Case studies of Cycle Rickshaws and Street Vendors in Delhi
The second chapter on “Gender Dimensions of Urban Poverty†observes that women in urban areas
are affected due to poverty and gender discrimination.
(f): The scheme of Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana, which has been comprehensively revamped with effect from 1.4.2009, is the major scheme for addressing the issues of urban poverty with focus on women. The scheme has 5 major components:
(1) Urban Self Employment Programme (USEP)
(2) Urban Women Self-help Programme (UWSP)
(3) Skill Training for Employment Promotion amongst Urban Poor (STEP-UP)
(4) Urban Wage Employment Programme (UWEP)
(5) Urban Community Development Network (UCDN)
Urban Women Self-help Programme (UWSP) component under Swarna Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) targets at:
(i) Assistance to groups of urban poor women for setting up gainful self employment ventures – UWSP (Loan & Subsidy)
(ii) Revolving Funds for Self-Help Groups (SHGs)/ Thrift & Credit Societies (T&CSs) formed
by the urban poor women – UWSP (Revolving Fund).
Further, under the Guidelines of SJSRY, it is stipulated that the percentage of women beneficiaries under USEP and STEP-UP shall not be less than 30%.
The physical targets and achievement under SJSRY during the last three years are as follows:
2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Target Achievement Target Achievement Target Achievement
No. of urban poor 120000 136178 120000 181050 120000 184736
assisted to set up
individual/ group micro
enterprises
No. of urban poor 150000 167364 150000 248264 150000 303418
provided skill training
