Question : Houses for Homeless

Will the Minister of HOUSING AND URBAN POVERTY ALLEVIATION be pleased to state:-

(a) whether the Supreme Court has recently directed the Government to assess the availability of houses for homeless and take steps for providing temporary houses and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the court was not satisfied with the implementation of the National Urban Livelihoods Mission and issued appropriate directions in this regard and if so, the details thereof;

(c) the number of BPL card beneficiaries who have been allotted permanent/temporary houses; and

(d) the details of various facilities provided to BPL card beneficiaries by the States/UTs including West Bengal?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN
THE MINISTRY OF HOUSING & URBAN POVERTY ALLEVIATION
[RAO INDERJIT SINGH]

(a) & (b): Hon’ble Supreme Court, vide its Order dated 11th November, 2016, has directed to constitute a Committee under Chairmanship of Mr. Justice Kailash Gambhir, retired Judge, High Court of Delhi for physical verification of the available shelters for urban homeless in each State/UT. The Committee shall verify whether the shelters are in compliance with the operational guidelines for the scheme of Shelters for Urban Homeless under the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) and inquire into the reasons for slow progress in the setting up of shelter homes by the States/UTs and about the non-utilization and/ or diversion/ mis-utilization of the funds allocated for the scheme. The Committee shall also issue suitable recommendation to the State Governments to ensure that at least temporary shelters are provided for the homeless in the urban areas to protect them during the winter season. Accordingly, a Committee has been constituted.

(c) and (d): State/ UT-wise details (including the State of West Bengal) of houses along with civic and social infrastructure facilities provided to urban poor including BPL card holders under schemes of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) & Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) Mission including subsumed projects of Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) are annexed.

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