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Ashok B Sharma
New Delhi, June 3: The Centre has decided to construct 1,33,333 houses in the rural areas of the country in 1999-2000 fiscal year with a total subsidy of Rs 133.33 crore.
These houses will be constructed under the new credit-cum-subsidy scheme which came into effect from April 1, this year. The subsidy amount will be shared between the Centre and the states in the ratio of 75:25. As per this formula, the total contribution by the Centre will Rs 100 crore while the total contribution of the states will be Rs 33.33 crore.
The criteria for Central allocation is based both on the poverty ratio as determined by the Planning Commission and the housing shortage. The proportion of these two variables is 50:50. The allocation allocation of funds within the state is the prerogative of the state government which will specify inter-district targets and identify beneficiaries as per stipulations.
Bihar gets the largest share of Central subsidy of Rs 2,507.16 lakh as the poverty ratio in the state is 18.47 per centand rural housing shortage is 29.77 per cent. Next state to get a greater chunk of central subsidy of Rs 1,511.97 lakh is UP as its poverty ratio is as high as 20.33 per cent while the housing shortage is only of the order of 9.12 per cent. Next is Assam which gets a central subsidy of Rs 1,025.91 lakh owing to its housing shortage being 16.35 per cent while the poverty ratio being 3.22 per cent.
The lowest recipient of central subsidy is Goa. Its central subsidy stands at only Rs 4.47 lakh. The poverty ratio in the state is only 0.013 per cent and housing shortage is 0.072 per cent. This is followed Rs central subsidy of Rs 32.86 lakh for Himachal Pradesh where the poverty ratio is 0.52 per cent per cent and housing shortage is 0.11 per cent. Next in the order is Jammu & Kashmir with Rs 39.44 lakh central assistance where the poverty ratio is 0.65 per cent and housing shortage is 0.12 per cent.
This new credit-cum-subsidy scheme is launched as a large number of rural households living both below andabove the poverty line could not be covered under Indira Awaas Yojana, as either they do not fall within the range of eligibility or due to limits imposed by the available budget. The target group under the scheme will be rural households having an annual income of up to Rs 32000. However, rural households living below the poverty line will be given preference. At least a minimum of 60 per cent of the funds allocated under the scheme as subsidy to each state shall be utilised in financing constructions for scheduled castes and tribes and freed bonded labourers. The target areas that can be taken up under the scheme should solely be rural areas and at least 20 km away from metropolitan and large townships and 5 km away from small and medium towns.
The implementation agency for this credit-cum-subsidy scheme shall be either the state housing boards, state housing corporations, specified scheduled commercial banks, housing finance institutions or the DRDAs or the zilla parishads. The state governments willidentify the implementation agency.
The ceiling of subsidy that can be given under this scheme is Rs 10,000 per household. The upper limit of construction loan admissible under this scheme will be Rs 40,000 per household.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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