April 02, 2002

‘32’

    The proposals for the central subsidy of about Rs. 200 crore under the Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY) have been submitted by 20 States and Union Territories.

    Expressing satisfaction at the progress of VAMBAY, Minister for Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation Shri Ananth Kumar stated that "the implementation Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY) has picked up very well with the active participation of a large number of States and Union Territories".

    "In the last financial year, only an amount of Rs 73.56 crore was available and the entire amount has been released to the States and Union Territories of Andhra Pradesh, Maharastra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Uttaranchal, Pondicherry and Tripura" the Minister added.

    Shri Ananth Kumar said that as part of Government’s initiative to provide ‘housing for all’, a new housing scheme Valmiki – Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY) was launched by the Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, with the objective of providing shelter or upgrading the existing shelter for people living below the poverty line in urban slums. The Scheme will be funded by the budget grants to the extent of 50 per cent leaving the balance to be matched by the State Governments with funds from other sources or through loans from HUDCO.

    The cost of construction of dwelling unit under the scheme will be in the range of Rs.40,000/- to Rs.60,000/- including the provision for sanitary latrine for an area of not less than 15 sq. metres.

    As a component of the VAMBAY, a new National City Sanitation Project known as "Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan" will be introduced in the slums all over the country to provide toilet facilities to slum dwellers. Community based group toilet schemes in slum areas will be financed under this scheme to be maintained by community-based organizations (CBO).