Is Housing for All becoming a reality?

The primary objective of this scheme is to provide good quality homes that has all amenities for the people who do not have a house of their own. The scheme is divided into four categories: subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction or enhancement, affordable housing in partnership with public and private sectors, promotion of affordable housing for weaker section through credit linked subsidy, and rehabilitation of slum dwellers with the participation of private developers using land as a resource.

As per the condition, to avail the subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction, the person should not own any other house anywhere in the country and should be residing in rented huts or tiled houses. Another condition is that they should own a plot that is a minimum of 300-square-foot with all the required documentation. For this category, the Centre provides Rs 1,50,000 and the State provides Rs 60,000. Thus, the total subsidy adding up to a total of Rs 2,10, 000 is provided. Also, under this category, 71,403 houses have already been built in Tamil Nadu and 1,90,995 more houses are in construction.

The survey that had 1,238 respondents also revealed that only 41.7 per cent of people received the subsidy amount on time. More than half of them received the money later than the scheduled time.

Flats built by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board and Tamil Nadu Housing Board will be allotted to people now residing in huts. Each house is built on 400 square feet with a subsidy of Rs 11 lakh. Rs 1.5 lakh is given by the Central government, while the State gives a subsidy of Rs 7-8 lakh. The users must chip in Rs 1.5-2.5 lakh. Under this category, 7,752 houses have been built in Tamil Nadu while 40,835 are under construction.

Promotion of affordable housing for weaker section through credit linked subsidy means that interest up to Rs 2.67 lakh will be reduced from the bank loans availed for buying old or new houses. However, as banks are keen on only giving loans for independent homes, only 14,000 people have benefitted under this category of the scheme. The Centre and State are insisting banks to avail such loans and increasing awareness amid people about the credit linked subsidy as well.

Government officials inspected the sites before and after construction, claimed nearly 90 per cent of people who took the survey. In south States, 16,04,342 homes have been built under the ‘Housing for All by 2022’ scheme, while 41,42,133 houses are under construction. In Tamil Nadu, 1,43,444 houses have been built under this scheme, and 4,33,873 are under construction.