Question : Provision for Children in Urban Planning

Will the Minister of HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS be pleased to state

(a) Whether it is true that adequate attention is not being paid by the Government towards the needs of children in urban areas during urban planning and governance and if so, the details thereof;

(b) Whether it is a fact that steps have not been taken to fulfil the needs of children especially very young children of 0-3 years whose needs are special and particular in the urban governance and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has taken note of the fact that lack of provision of such services has an adverse impact on the health of children and if so, the reaction of the Government thereto;

(d) whether the Government has maintained or proposes to collect aggregated data on vulnerable children in urban areas in the country and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) the steps proposed to be taken by the Government to ameliorate the plight of the children facing problem in urban areas?

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS
(SHRI HARDEEP SINGH PURI)


(a) Though the subject of Urban Development is under the domain of State/UT Governments concerned, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) advises State/UT Governments to regulate urban planning in ULBs by framing Master Plans and Bye Laws which also contain stipulations specific to children.

Further, the Ministry provides financial assistance to State/UT Governments through various Flagship Schemes such as Smart City Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation(AMRUT) and Swachh Bharat Mission(SBM). These schemes ensure the provisions for children such as safe and walkable routes to schools, girl child friendly amenities, SMART classrooms, rational distribution of educational facilities throughout the city, creation of barrier free environment for children etc.

AMRUT Mission specifically addresses the needs of children in terms of play spaces. It mandates all AMRUT cities to create at least one children’s park every year and establish a system for maintenance of parks, playground and recreational areas relying on People Public Private Partnership (PPPP) model.

As per the AMRUT SLIPs (Service Level Improvement Plans) and SAAPs (State Annual Action Plans) submitted, development of open and green spaces is in progress in almost all the 500 mission cities.

The guidelines of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-Urban) mention that “Priority shall be accorded pro-actively to cover households with vulnerable sections such as girl children, pregnant and lactating mothers.

(b) The Urban and Regional Development Plan Formulation and Implementation Guidelines (URDPFI Guidelines), 2014 issued by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs prescribe norms and standards for open spaces including parks, playgrounds and recreation spaces. The child specific needs for children in 0-3 years age group are also addressed in the URDPFI Guidelines, 2014. For example, the guidelines mandate that for a population of 5000 there should be 1 anganwadi and 1 milk booth.

(c) The deficiencies in the provision of facilities /services, need to be assessed by Urban Local Bodies and Urban Development Authorities who are responsible for implementation of Master Plans / Development Plans.

(d) Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs does not maintain the aggregated data on urban vulnerable children.

(e) As mentioned at part (a) above.

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