Interim budget must focus on inclusive urban housing

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana has spent over $29 billion in the last five years in providing support for rural and urban low-cost housing — and yet ‘housing for all’ remains a distant dream.

As the interim budget will be presented on February 1, many expect it to have people-centric benefits, especially because the general elections are in a few months.

According to news reports, urban housing focusing on slums could be a focus area in the budget. Government estimates suggest a shortfall of ~20 million houses in rural areas and ~3 million in urban centres. The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) has spent over $29 billion in the last five years in providing support for low-cost housing — and yet ‘housing for all’ remains a distant dream. The PMAY could continue for a few more years to address this gap.

What ails PMAY

The PMAY has four components: In situ re-development of slums; Credit-linked subsidy for housing; Affordable housing in partnership, and; Enhancement and construction of beneficiary houses. In this article, we will deal with in situ redevelopment of slums.

Estimates suggest that in urban India ~40 per cent of the people live in designated or informal slums. This is 49 per cent according to the Word Bank. Given this, the success of the PMAY is dependent on successfully addressing the housing question in slums.

There is a lot of debate over the durability of the slums. Most of them argue for in situ re-development with little or no intervention from the State, apart from providing basic services like health, water, education, etc. Some argue on the tenability question of slums and the need to relocate those which are built on water bodies, landslide zones, waste dump areas, drains, rivers, etc. There is also a fear that once re-development and relocation starts, irreversible changes occur to the livelihoods and habitat of slum dwellers. The question of tenurial rights and distance are important — if a slum is relocated far away from its inhabitants’ source of livelihood, it is of little use.

What needs to be done?

The PMAY’s redevelopment component must be revisited and made congenial to slum dwellers.

Inclusion must be a guiding principle. This means that there is no eviction unless unavoidable, and in such cases, alternative locations, chosen in consultation and with the consent from the people being displaced, is provided.

In-situ upgrade of slums, including incremental housing, must be done unless the slums are in untenable areas. Slum resettlement and relocation, if absolutely necessary, should be to the extent possible within the same ward/zone, or the adjoining ward/zone to minimise adverse impacts on livelihoods and community assets.

Participatory development will ensure inclusivity in and ownership of slum re-development efforts. Community consultations and decision-making involving affected slum dwellers at all stages of the PMAY can go a long way in ensuring successful outcomes.

It is important that title deeds of redeveloped sites be given to the inhabitants and entered in the Record of Rights (RoR) in the mutation documents. Only Karnataka is following the RoR principle, thus enabling the house owners to have control over their dwelling. Land and housing titles accord a dignified future to the urban poor, and protect them from threats of evictions and dispossessions.

Stakeholder participation

Promoting the involvement of urban local bodies (ULBs), community-based organisations (CBOs), and co-operatives of slum dwellers in this process serves as an important dimension to the whole process. In the current scheme, the ULBs are responsible for preparing plans for in-situ redevelopment projects; however, most of these plans are prepared at the behest of consultants; and there is hardly any role of the community.

At least ~5 per cent of the PMAY resources need to be earmarked and spent for capacity development of ULBs and CBOs, and for community-slum level organisations with a focus on women and youth. This will ensure that the urban poor are also made a part of the development process, and are offered responsibilities and accountability in every step of the process. A focused programme for strengthening the ULBs, with a primacy of their role on matters related to urban development and poverty eradication goes a long way in ensuring inclusive and responsive cities.

Upgrade PMAY guidelines

Affordability and ‘affordable housing’ are subjective concepts, and carry inherent risks of excluding the poor who cannot ‘afford’. To address this, clear and sensitive norms and subsidies need to be built into the PMAY guidelines. Criteria and level of subsidy may vary for different sections based on social and economic statuses.

Planned housing is an important element in the making of cities and urban societies. It reflects our values and what we would like the future to be. Therefore, not only do we need culturally-sensitive and environmentally-friendly housing, but the PMAY must ensure that the habitats built are not unilinear in design; they should promote mixed housing which is climate resilient with proper space.

Land is going to be the central issue among many others, and ‘the right to the city’ is premised on the ownership of the land for the future of the city we need now.

Sandeep Chachra is Executive Director, Action Aid India, and Tikender Singh Panwar is former Deputy Mayor of Shimla.

(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH).