Assocham seeks Rs 1,200 cr for housing, health facilities

NEW DELHI: Industry body Assocham has sought a budgetary allocation of Rs 1,200 crore in 2008-09 for low-cost housing and health facilities for the urban poor.

In a paper on "Housing and Health Facility for Urban Poor", the chamber has estimated that an investment of Rs 700 crore was needed for providing low-cost housing to the urban poor.

"The basis for investment has been calculated, excluding land cost, on the premises that each low-cost housing unit for urban poor could be provided for at cost of over Rs 1.5 lakh. The land should be provided for such dwelling units by the state government with virtually at 100 per cent subsidy," it said in a statement.

Over 40 million low-cost dwelling units and an additional 500 urban health and family welfare centers are needed for 190 million urban poor, who still slog to obtain these facilities at a time when a significant part of urban India is spending between Rs 30-40 lakh for one dwelling unit.

"A minimum of Rs 500 crore is required for creating health facilities, for which allocations should come from central budget for fiscal 2008-09," Assocham President Venugopal Dhoot said.

States should emulate the Delhi government's recent initiative, which would provide low-cost housing facilities for nearly four lakh slum dwellers in and around Delhi.

Dhoot also suggested that states, particularly, Punjab Maharashtra, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh should come out with such schemes as these receive migrant workers from all parts of the country.

According to the chamber, urban India has currently about 1,150 family welfare centres, which take care of 2,50,000 patients against their capacity of treating about 70,000 patients only.