Rajiv Awas Yojana

Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) is a new scheme announced by the President earlier in 2009, focuses on slum dwellers and the urban poor.

This scheme aims at promoting a slum-free India in five years and would focus on according property rights to slum dwellers.

The scheme will focus on according property rights to slum dwellers and the urban poor by the states and union territories.

It would provide basic amenities such as water supply, sewerage, drainage, internal and approach roads, street lighting and social infrastructure facilities in slums and low income settlements adopting a ‘whole city’ approach. It would also provide subsidized credit.

Allocation for housing and provision of basic amenities to urban poor enhanced to Rs.3,973 crore in the Union Budget 2009-10. This includes provision of Rs. 150 Crore for Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY).

As per the UPA government’s proposal for this scheme , the schemes for affordable housing through partnership and the scheme for interest subsidy for urban housing would be dovetailed into the Rajiv Awas Yojana which would extend support under JNNURM to States that are willing to assign property rights to people living in slum areas.

The Government’s effort would be to create a slum free India through the Rajiv Awas Yojana.

The Concept Note on RAY was finalized and sent to Planning Commission for their ‘in principle’ approval. The Planning Commission has accorded its ‘in principle’ approval for the proposed scheme recently. The draft guidelines of the scheme has been prepared and circulated to all States/UTs/Central Ministries and experts/NGOs for comments.

Developing a robust database on slums is critical for implementation of the proposed Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY). The Ministry of HUPA has released funds for Slum/Household/Livelihoods surveys in 394 class I cities having more than one lakh population in the country.

The surveys are in progress. Funds will also be released for other towns/cities in a phased manner. An e-enabled MIS is being developed for processing of data and building a national database.