Urban Poor

The Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja has said that as per the data released by the Planning Commission, there was an increase of about 44 lakhs urban poor in the country in the year 2004-2005 as compared to the year 1993-1994. Poverty figure for the year 2001 and 2011 are not available.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today she said, Government of India has launched the combined Rural-Urban Socio-Economic and Caste Census-2011 in June, 2011 for identification of people below poverty line in the country. The Socio-economic and Caste Census would be carried out by the respective State Government with the financial and technical support of the Government of India.

She said, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation is implementing scheme of Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) aimed at to provide gainful employment to the urban unemployed and under-employed poor, through encouraging the setting up of self employment ventures by the urban poor living below the poverty line, skills training and also through providing wage employment by utilizing their labour for construction of socially and economically useful public assets. Also, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (Basic Services to the Urban Poor and Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme components), aimed at providing basic amenities and affordable to the urban poor, especially slum dwellers is being implemented since December, 2005.

Kumari Selja said, the Government has recently launched a new scheme called Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) for the slum dwellers and the urban poor. This scheme aims at providing support to States that are willing to provide property rights to slum dwellers.