Empowering states key to ‘Housing for All’ success

HUPA Joint Secretary Mishra at RICS conference

‘In a move that could further pave the way for smooth implementation of the Government’s ‘Housing for All’ scheme, the Centre has proposed to decentralise the programme by empowering every state government in the planning and decision-making process.

“Empowering states is the key to the success of Housing for All”, said Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Joint Secretary in the Ministry for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. He was speaking at a real estate conference organised by RICS, the global body for setting standards in real estate, in New Delhi on Thursday.

Among the other measures, the Government is also set to introduce global standards for building and construction process and facilitate easier documentation and approval procedures for projects falling under ‘Housing for All’.

The Housing Ministry is likely to hold a meeting with the Environment Ministry next week to discuss ways to expedite clearances to housing projects falling under this scheme.

“Skill upgradation will play a key role and the Government along with private sector will work to train and upgrade skills in real estate and construction sector,” Mishra added.

Sachin Sandhir, Global MD, Emerging Business, RICS, said, “There is huge mismatch of housing demand and supply in India. At this point, India is looking at building homes under affordable housing to cater to this demand. We believe the Government along with the private sector should follow international best practices for construction of these houses under the scheme to maintain good construction quality and ensure timely completion of such projects.”

Devina Ghildial, Managing Director, RICS, South Asia, said, “Providing low-cost financing and fast disbursals of fund for completion of the scheme will play one of the key roles in timely execution of the project.”