Economic Times ( 09 March
2017 ) carries following news report :
“ Centre to
Pay Rent for Poor in 100 Cities “
The government would launch the new rental housing policy with the
rental vouchers for below poverty line ( BPL ) families
Aimed directly at the URBAN POOR and helping the MIGRANT
POPULATION, the scheme would involve :
·
Distribution of Rent Vouchers by URBAN LOCAL BODIES
·
The TENANT would give these vouchers to the LANDOWNER
·
In turn, the LANDOWNER would be able to
redeem them at any CITIZEN SERVICE BUREAU
·
If the rent is higher than the value of the
rent voucher, the tenant would pay the difference in CASH to the landowner
·
The VALUE of the rent voucher would be
determined by the URBAN LOCAL BODY ( Municipal
Corporation ? ), on the basis of CLASS or SIZE of the dwelling unit and the PREVALENT RENT in the city
A senior official of “ HOUSING AND URBAN
POVERTY ALLEVIATION MINISTRY “ told
ET :
“ The Rental Voucher
Scheme is being looked at as a means to complement the Prime Minister’s Housing
for All Scheme “
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Following are the reasons
why the proposed scheme needs a relook :
NUMBER OF AGENCIES INVOLVED in IMPLEMENTATION :
·
The Ministry concerned
·
Urban Local Bodies (
Municipal Corporations of 100 Smart Cities )
·
Citizen Service Bureaus ( - also 100 ? )
·
Landowners ( Lakhs ? )
·
Voucher Recipients ( 35 % of
Urban Household who live in rented homes )
SCOPE FOR CORRUPTION :
There
will be a lot of ambiguity / discretion , ( leading to corruption ) while
deciding :
·
CLASS / SIZE of dwelling units (
city area wise )
·
Prevalent Rents ( in each area of each of
those 100 cities )
·
Who is “ Below Poverty Line “ ?
·
Who is a “ MIGRANT “ resident – and for
how long ? Who will certify ? In a city like Mumbai , some 500 families arrive
DAILY from all over India , to make Mumbai , their new home !
·
Who will “ check
and certify “ that the claimant ( voucher recipient ) is actually living
at the dwelling unit declared ? How much grease money will they demand ?
·
Landowners will simply be
unable to “ redeem “ those Rent Vouchers without bribing the concerned persons
at the CITIZEN SERVICE
BUREAU !
·
Unscrupulous nexus between TENANT and LANDOWNER could give rise to BENAMI users ( those
ABOVE official Poverty Line ) – as currently RAMPANT in most houses ( flats )
sold by State Housing Corporations , all over India !
And finally ,
·
WHO will determine ( - and
HOW ? ) , that XYZ tenant , who was POOR last year , has come up ABOVE the
Poverty Line , this year – and become ineligible ?
Will this (
scheme ) not “ incentivize
“ a person to want to continue to remain below Poverty Line , for as long as he can ?
·
Why should the scheme ignore RURAL POOR ?
Dear
Shri Venkiah Naidu-ji :
I urge you to take a close RELOOK at this scheme , before announcing !
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09 March 2017
www.hemenparekh.in
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