Government promises slum free India

September 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Hundreds of the slum dwellers, residing on the banks of Yamuna River, are suffering with the river crossing the danger level following incessant rains in the national capital. A flood alert was issued Saturday after water levels of Yamuna reached 204.55 meters.

September 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India has a whopping 62 million slumdwellers but it aims to be free of shanties through a slew of schemes such as earmarking of 20 percent of developed land in all housing projects for this category, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Kumari Selja said here Saturday. "When our government first came to power in 2004, we had set out as our priority to cater to the needs of the urban poor.

September 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The 2010 Commonwealth Games will be a boon for slumdwellers here as both the central and state governments are planning to provide them with better homes ahead of the event, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Kumari Selja said here Saturday. "The Commonwealth Games will act as a boon for poor people.

September 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India is committed to providing affordable housing to the urban poor despite problems in acquiring land and getting money, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Kumari Selja said here Thursday. The government will provide its full cooperation and support to encourage, guide and strengthen the efforts to make affordable housing for all a reality, Selja said after inaugurating a conference on affordable housing for the urban poor.

July 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Housing and Poverty Alleviation Minister Kumari Selja today informed the Lok Sabha that the government is planning to launch a new housing scheme for slum dwellers and urban poor since the scheme is aimed at providing subsidy up to five per cent on a loan of Rs one lakh availed by the poor. "Government proposes to launch 'Rajiv Awas Yojana' in the country for slum dwellers and urban poor.

July 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Kumari Selja said on Tuesday that sustainable development needs to be inclusive and different from mere economic development of the past, and its benefits must last well into the next generation, and beyond. Delivering the inaugural address at the launch of Habitat Business Forum in New Delhi, the minister emphasised the role of private sector in contributing towards this cause has to be recognized and promoted on a large scale.

July 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Minister for Tourism and Housing Kumari Selja on Wednesday said that the Government has sanctioned over 1.5 million houses for the poor people across the country. Kumari Selja, releasing her ministry's 100-day agenda, announced that the Government is likely to develop a model legal framework to consider property rights to the urban slum dwellers.

July 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's millions of urban poor have reason to cheer. A new housing scheme, Rajiv Awas Yojana, was announced Wednesday promising to improve their lives and aiming to make the country "slum free" in the next five years.

June 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - If the Manmohan Singh government's ambitious plan for a "slum free" India, as announced by President Pratibha Patil in parliament Thursday, becomes a reality some 62 million-plus people living in the country's urban shanties will have a home of their own. Called the Rajiv Awas Yojana, the special housing scheme for the urban poor and slum dwellers will be on the lines of Indira Awas Yojana for the rural areas.

May 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Mayor Kanwar Sain Thursday pulled up the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) slum department "for sitting on files endlessly" and ordered a fresh survey of slum dwellers and encroachments in the national capital. "Since 1994 there has been no survey of slum properties.

May 20th, 2009 HYDERABAD - Immediately after taking oath as Andhra Pradesh chief minister here Wednesday evening, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy signed two files related to free electricity supply and low price rice - the two poll promises of the Congress.

May 14th, 2009 Mumbai authorities tear down 'Slumdog' star's homeMUMBAI, India — City workers bulldozed the home of a "Slumdog Millionaire" child star Thursday as part of the demolition of dozens of shanties in a Mumbai slum. Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail was asleep when a police officer woke him up and told him to leave his family's home, he said.

May 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - An eight-year-old boy was burnt to death after a fire broke out in a slum cluster here, a fire brigade official said Friday. The incident took place when fire broke out in one of the slums and spread to the nearby slums near Batla House of Jamia Nagar in south Delhi Thursday evening.

April 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - About 250 to 350 slum dwellings were completely gutted in a massive fire here on Thursday. The fire erupted in one of the hut and then spread across the slum in the city's Jahangirpuri area.

March 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has urged political parties to refrain from offering free power and foodgrains like wheat and rice at highly subsidised rates, saying such freebies could stunt economic growth in the long run. In an appeal to political parties Wednesday, Assocham said they should balance their offer of free power to farmers and others with specific steps to prevent misuse.