Shri Hardeep S Puri, Minister of State(I/C) for Housing & Urban Affairs has stated that urban areas of 35 states / UTs have become ODF (All states/UTs except a few ULBs from West Bengal) and in all, 4,320 cities have declared themselves ODF, of which 4,166 cities have been certified through third party verification.  He also informed that about 61 lakh individual toilets and 5.6 lakh Community Toilets have been completed, thus exceeding the targets.  Today, 96% of wards in the country are covered by door to door collection, 73% of wards are practicing source segregation, and 60% waste generated is being scientifically processed.  He was addressing the MPs of the Consultative Committee attached to the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, here today.  Earlier, he welcomed all the Members of the Parliament of the Consultative Committee attached to the MoHUA and informed that the Government is implementing – Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation(AMRUT), Smart Cities Mission(SCM), Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban(SBM-U) Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban(PMAY-U), Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission(DAY-NULM), Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana(HRIDAY) and Metro Rails. These complement each other helping the all-round development of our cities.  The meeting was attended by Members of Parliament, Shri M.V.V.Satyanaraya, Shri Ramcharan Bohra, Shri Abir Ranjan Biswas, Shri Rajmani Patel, Shri K.T.S.Tulsi, and Shri Sanjay Singh.   Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA and senior officers of the Ministry also attended the meeting.  Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA gave an overall view of various Missions of the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.  This was followed by presentation by the respective Mission Directors about their Missions. 

            Providing details of the Smart City Mission, Shri Puri informed that the Mission covers 100 cities selected through a challenge process at the national level. A comprehensive exercise of citizen engagement laid foundation for preparing Smart City Proposals (SCPs) for participating in national level Challenge.  Investments worth Rs 2.05 lakh crore have been proposed by 100 Smart Cities as part of their smart city plans with Central Assistance of Rs 48,000 crore. These projects will be funded through - Central Assistance & State contribution, PPP, debt/loans and through convergence from other schemes. Projects worth Rs 1.06 lakh crore have either been completed or are under implementation. Remaining projects are at different stages of implementation. It is heartening to see that projects with an investment of about Rs 20,000 crore are being implemented or are under tendering on PPP basis. This shows the interest the Mission has evoked in the private sector.

            Speaking about Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban, Shri Puri informed that it seeks to provide houses to all eligible families/ beneficiaries by 2022. 4421 cities/towns have been covered under the Mission. Of the validated demand of 1.12 crore houses, construction of 96.50 lakh houses involving central assistance of Rs.1.51 lakh crore has been approved.  Central assistance of Rs. 57,914 crore has been released out of budgetary allocations and Extra Budgetary Resources (EBR).  More than 57 lakh houses have been grounded of which construction of about 29 lakh is complete.            As part of PMAY-U a Technology Sub-Mission envisaging adoption of modern, innovative, disaster resistant and green technologies for various geo-climatic zones has been launched. 24 Emerging Technologies have been identified, evaluated and promoted under the Mission. Over 14 Lakh houses are being constructed using these technologies all over the country.

            As regards, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation, he informed that the scheme focuses on development of basic urban infrastructure in 500 Mission cities- potable water for every household; improvement treatment capacity of sewerage; develop city parks and Reform implementation.  Against the total plan size of Rs. 77,640 crore of all the SAAPs, Rs. 39,000 crore (50%) has been allocated to water supply followed by sewerage & septage project at over Rs. 32,000 crore (42%).  Works have been completed for 2,326 projects worth Rs. 7,221 crore, contracts awarded & work in progress on 2,962 projects with an investment of Rs. 65,000 crore, 460 projects costing over Rs. 10,000 crore are under tendering and DPRs worth about Rs.1000 crore are under preparation. AMRUT also focuses on Reforms-11 reforms comprising 54 milestones. These reforms broadly cover online services to citizens, establishing single window for all approvals, establishing municipal cadre, achieving at least 90% of billing and collection of taxes/user charges, etc.  Against a target for replacement of 99 lakh streetlights with LED lights, 67 lakh streetlights have been replaced so far. Online Building Permission System (OBPS) has been implemented in 1,887 cities across the country including 440 AMRUT towns. Implementation of OBPS resulted in a quantum jump in India’s rank in the World Bank Doing Business Report (DBR) in construction permits component of Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) to 27 in 2020 from 181 in 2018.

            In so far as Deendayal Antodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihood Mission is concerned, it addresses livelihoods concerns of urban poor by enabling them access to self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities, provide shelters equipped with essential services to the urban homeless and assists the urban street vendors by facilitating access to suitable spaces, institutional credit, social security, etc. The primary target of DAY-NULM is urban poor, including urban homeless and particular emphasis is laid on mobilization of vulnerable sections of urban population such as SCs/STs, minorities, female-headed households, street vendors, rag pickers etc.  The Mission has made 42.95 lakh urban poor households part of Self Help Groups (SHGs).Over 3 lakh SHGs provided Revolving Fund and about 6 lakh loans provided to SHGs.4.62 lakh beneficiaries assisted for setting up of individual/group micro enterprises. Over 10 lakh individuals/youth trained and certified in different skills fit for livelihood in urban areas; 5.58 lakh got placement. Central Assistance amounting to Rs 2,753 Cr released to States/UTs since 2014 under DAY-NULM.

            As regards Urban Transport, Shri Puri informed that 667 km of metro rail lines are presently operational in 18 cities and about 934 km (including 82 km Delhi-Meerut RRTS) are under construction in various cities. “Our other initiatives in urban transport include: National Urban Transport Policy, which seeks to promote greater use of public transport and non-motorized modes of travel and use of cleaner technologies; Metro Rail Policy which bridges the much-needed gap for ascertaining and enhancing the feasibility of metro rail projects from economic, social and environmental perspective. Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Policy, 2017 to encourage compact mixed-use development which reduces the need for travel and improve the access to public transport within the walkable distance of transit stations; National Common Mobility Card to enable seamless travel by different metros and other transport means across the country besides retail shopping and purchases. This is India’s first indigenously developed AFC System which fulfils the dream of One Nation One Card; Metrolite- Cost effective Metro system for tier-2 and tier-3 cities; and Metroneo being formulated envisages standards for rubber tyre-based mass rapid transit system named ‘Metroneo’ with exclusive right of way as an option for public transport in smaller cities” he added.

            Shri Sanjay Singh, MP mentioned the issue of Swachhtha App and the negative response of people and desired to know as to what is being done about it.
Shri K.T.S.Tulsi, MP desired to know about the policy relating to BRTS corridors in the country.  Shri Ramcharan Bohra, MP desired to know about the area based development schemes under the Smart City Mission.  The Hon’ble Housing & Urban Affairs Minister responded to the queries and thanked the Members for their participation.

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RJ