Minister of State for Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Urban Development Babul Supriyo has said that the Government will promote regional planning by moving beyond city-centric planning for construction of houses in satellite townships, peri-urban and peripheral areas to meet the housing demand in urban areas. He inaugurated an international workshop on “Human Settlements-Planning and Design : A Shared Understanding” here today.Shri Supriyo said that the Government is committed to ensure housing for urban poor by 2022 and further observed that “the government while acknowledging problems in urban areas is striving to solve them in an integrated and goal centric manner”. The Minister stressed the need to assist the poor even in remote and far off places in planning , design and construction of safe and resilient houses.Shri Supriyo referred to various initiatives launched by the Government to address infrastructure bottlenecks and housing shortage in urban areas.
Dr.Nandita Chatterjee, Secretary (HUPA) said that “ the Ministry is close to finalizing a pro-acive, practical and pragmatic Rental Housing Policy keeping in view that 27% of the housing demand is for such rental housing”. She emphasized on the need for effective planning and design so as to meet the housing needs of all sections of the people in the context of rising costs of land, labour and availability of materials. Dr. Chattejee noted that to move beyond city-centric planning for housing, construction of houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) is being allowed in planning areas which go beyond city limits. She said that planning needs to be done in the context of rural – urban continuum and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rurban Mission is a step in this regard. Ministry of HUPA has organized the workshop for sharing of ideas and experiences in respect of housing among the Asia-Pacific countries. Representatives from 9 countries viz., Japan, South Korea, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Fiji have attended the workshop.