Poverty alleviation programme for urban poor in India

October 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The World Habitat Day (WHD) 2009 will be celebrated on October 5. The United Nations has designated the first Monday in October each year as the WHD.

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 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday stepped up by 45 percent the budgetary allocation for the flagship Bharat Nirman (Build India) programme that focuses on rural development and poverty alleviation.

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 29th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Union Tourism and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Kumari Selja has said that both the Ministries under her have vast potential for employment generation and convergence between the two is under active consideration of the Government to utilize their full potential. Addressing media persons here, Selja said, "The thrust area for the Government will be creation and improvement of tourism infrastructure, promotion and publicity of India as a preferred tourism destination in overseas markets, promotion of domestic tourism, development of human resource through skill development, skill certification and broad basing the hospitality education and most importantly employment generation." She reiterated that tourism should result in sustainable and equitable growth.

June 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Kumari Selja, the young minister for tourism, housing and urban poverty alleviation, is thinking jobs. She wants to alleviate urban poverty by establishing a convergence between the portfolios she holds.

May 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India needs to attract more foreign tourists, whose number has dipped after the Mumbai terror attack and due to economic depression, Tourism Minister Kumari Selja said Saturday. "The tourism sector has a lot of challenges apart from attracting foreign tourists to India.

May 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - To tackle the country's serious shortage, estimated at nearly 25 million, the government will now focus on affordable housing by involving the private sector, said Housing and Urban poverty Alleviation Minister Kumari Selja. With 97 per cent of this shortage in Low Income Group (LIG) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of the society, need is for a sustainable, equitable and socially inclusive development plan which will involve and cater to housing to the Weaker Sections.

March 31st, 2009 WARDHA - Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, who addressed a rally here Tuesday, slammed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for ignoring the poor of the country during its rule at the centre even as he asserted that his party's focus was on the common man. 'We (Congress) see India from common man's eyes.

January 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - In order to make housing affordable for the weaker sections of society, the government is thinking of reserving 20 percent of space in housing projects for them. Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Kumari Selja, Monday said her ministry will ask state governments to reserve developed land for the economically weaker sections in various housing projects.