In a bid to cater to burgeoning need of affordable housing for economically weaker section (EWS), lower income group (lIG), lower middle income group (lMIG) and middle income group (MIG) in Bhubaneswar, the State Government has decided to build 10,000 affordable houses.
Speaking at a workshop on Affordable Urban Housing in Odisha, organised by the Housing and Urban Development Department with support of UKAID on Tuesday, Minister for Housing and Urban Development Debi Prasad Mishra said, "There is a need for Rs4.10 lakh affordable housings in the State. To cater to this huge need, 10,000 affordable houses will be developed in public-private partnership in the (capital) city in coming years."
According to official sources, an amount of Rs1,680 crore is required for the affordable housing project.
Under the subsidised affordable housing programme, sale price of a house for EWS would be Rs3.5 lakh; Rs5.6 lakh for lIG; Rs10.5 lakh for lMIG and Rs15.6 lakh for MIG.
The carpet area of EWS would be 270 square feet; lIG 430sqft; lMIG 646 square feet and MIG 861 square feet while the super build up areas of these housing schemes will be 350 square feet, 560 square feet, 840 square feet and 1119 square feet, respectively.
The Odisha State Housing Board (OSHB) would be the State-level nodal agency for the programme whereas the respective urban local bodies would be the city-level implementing agencies.
About 5,000 affordable houses would be developed on 100 acres of land at Gothapatna on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar soon, Minister Mishra informed.
As many as 16,000 households of the city are living in slums.
"One third of the city's population lives in slums. Our efforts in past to provide housing to the different weaker sections of the society have failed. So, there is a need to involve private players in this field to provide hygienic environment for people," said Chief Secretary BK Patnaik.
The Department for International Development (DFID), an international organisation, is collaborating with the National Housing Board for affordable housings which involves an investment of Rs 400 crore. It will work for eight States, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal and Rajasthan.
"Currently, we are studying the policies of the different States," said Country Head of DFID Sam Sharpe.
Principal Secretary of Housing &Urban Development Injeti Srinivas said, "A 360-degree reformation is needed to rehabilitate the weaker sections of the society. So, as many as 5,000 affordable housings without compromising with the quality of house will be provided to EWS, lIG, lMIG and MIG. The houses will have top class facilities."
Sources said that about 80 per cent people in Bhubaneswar fail to afford houses at a price of more than Rs15 lakh.
As to transparency in selecting EWS, lIG, lMIG and MIG, Srinivas said, "We will go through data collected during the household survey for the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY). We will seek help of credible NGOs to get the economic profile of the people who actually require affordable housing."
The affordable housing programmes would also be launched in cities like Rourkela, Sambalpur and Brahmapur in future.
Speaking about the status of the RAY, Srinivas said six cities in the State have been covered while some projects under the RAY have been approved for Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Jajpur.