In news
Recently, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs organised an online event to commemorate 6 years of the three transformative Urban Missions vis. Smart Cities Mission (SCM), AMRUT and PMAY-U.
Key updates
- During the event the Ministry announced that Uttar Pradesh had been ranked one, Madhya Pradesh was second and Tamil Nadu third in the India Smart Cities Awards 2020.
- Indore and Surat were jointly named the best cities for their work under the Smart Cities Mission.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna-Urban
- PMAY-U, under the aegis of ‘Housing for All’, addresses urban housing shortage among the EWS/LIG and MIG categories including the slum dwellers by ensuring a ‘pucca’ house to all eligible urban households by the year 2022.
- It will provide central assistance to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and other implementing agencies through States/UTs for:
- In-situ Rehabilitation of existing slum dwellers using land as a resource through private participation
- Credit Linked Subsidy
- Affordable Housing in Partnership
- Subsidy for Beneficiary-led individual house construction/enhancement.
- Credit linked subsidy component will be implemented as a Central Sector Scheme while other three components will be implemented as Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
- The mission will support construction of houses upto 30 square meter carpet area with basic civic infrastructure.
- States/UTs will have flexibility in terms of determining the size of house and other facilities at the state level in consultation with the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation.
- As a response to the reverse migration taking place due to the COVID-19, MoHUA launched Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs), a sub-scheme under PMAY(U) for urban migrants/ poor.
- As the Mission moves ahead, there has been a need to address life transformation issues that arise out of moving into a new house and neighbourhood.
- To address this, ANGIKAAR, a campaign for social change management was initiated by ‘Housing for All’ (HFA) Mission on 29th August 2019.
- A total of 1.12 crore houses have been sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (U), of which 82.5 lakh houses have been grounded and around 48 lakh have been completed.
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation (AMRUT)
Purpose
- Ensure that every household has access to a tap with the assured supply of water and sewerage connection.
- Increase the amenity value of cities by developing greenery and well maintained open spaces (e.g. parks).
- Reduce pollution by switching to public transport or constructing facilities for non-motorized transport (e.g. walking and cycling).
Key features
- It is the first focused national water Mission and was launched on 25th June, 2015 in 500 cities covering 60% of the urban population.
- All cities having population above 1 lakh are covered under Mission.
- Providing piped water supply and sewerage & septage management in Mission cities is the major focus of the Mission.
- Storm water drainage, non-motorized urban transport and green spaces & parks are minor components of the Mission.
- Overall Mission allocation is Rs. 1 lakh crore including central share of Rs. 50,000 crore.
- AMRUT has a reform agenda with focus on e-Governance, energy audit, credit rating of ULBs, efficient town planning, online building permission system and raising funds by floating municipal bonds by ULBs.
- Master Plans of AMRUT cities are being prepared based on the Geographical Information System (GIS) through a sub-scheme.
- National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad has been roped in to provide satellite photos and for digitization of city maps.
- Under the PMAY-U, 1.12 crore houses had been sanctioned, of which 50 lakh had been completed.
Smart CitiesMission
- It is a transformational Mission aimed to bring about a paradigm shift in the practice of urban development in the country.
- It is an urban development programme launched by the government of India with the mission to develop 100 cities across the country.
- The objective is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘Smart’ Solutions.
- The focus is on sustainable and inclusive development and the idea is to look at compact areas, create a replicable model which will act like a light house to other aspiring cities
- Projects developed under the Smart Cities Mission are multi-sectoral and mirror the aspirations of the local population.
- Smart Cities focus on their most pressing needs and on the greatest opportunities to improve lives. They tap a range of approaches ;
- Digital and information technologies
- Urban planning best practices
- Public-private partnerships, and policy change – to make a difference.
- They always put people first
- The Ministry of Housing Urban Affairs is the implementing agency of the mission.
Other key features
- Promoting mixed land use in area based developments–planning for ‘unplanned areas.
- Housing and inclusiveness – expand housing opportunities for all.
- Creating walkable localities
- Preserving and developing open spaces – parks, playgrounds etc
- Promoting a variety of transport options – Transit Oriented Development (TOD), public transport and last mile para-transport connectivity.
- Making governance citizen-friendly and cost effective.
- Giving an identity to the city – based on its main economic activity.
Updates on the mission
- As on date, 69 Smart cities have developed and operationalised their Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) in the country.
- According to the Ministry, 22% in terms of the total value of the projects proposed and 52% in terms of the total number of projects proposed by the 100 Smart Cities had been completed so far.
Source: PIB
