Four years after the Modi government introduced its Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC) scheme in July 2020, less than seven percent of the 83,000-plus government-constructed flats under the scheme have been converted into low-rent housing for the urban poor, The Print has learnt. https://theprint.in/india/governance/less-than-7-houses-ready-in-4-yrs-why-govts-affordable-rental-scheme-for-urban-poor-is-falling-flat/2011527/
Launched during the Covid-19 pandemic that led to a large-scale exodus of migrant workers from cities, the scheme was aimed at providing housing to the urban poor on a rental basis.
For this, 83,534 flats across the country were to be converted into rental accommodations. These flats had been constructed under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) and Rajiv Awas Yojana.
Under the ARHC scheme, these flats were to be converted to rental housing for the urban poor by outsourcing the management and maintenance to a private concessionaire for 25 years.
But to date, just 5,648 flats in five states and Union territories have been made available to the urban poor on a rental basis, according to data available on the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs portal.
25/03/2024