5 Things You Should Know About Govt's Rent Vouchers For Urban Poor

Its massive growth potential notwithstanding, India urban woes are often overwhelming. While the Central government's planned large-scale projects focused on rapid urbanisation have got international media talking, the reality on the ground is quite different.

Sample this ― of the country's 500-million population, 69 million will be living in slums by 2017, according to World Bank estimates.  "The country is in the midst of a massive wave of urbanisation as some 10 million people move to towns and cities each year in search of jobs and opportunity. It is the largest rural-urban migration of this century," says the World Bank.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is trying to address this issue, too, while working hard to meet its to Housing for All by 2022 target. According to media reports, the government will in this financial year be implementing a rental housing scheme, under which it will distribute rent vouchers to the below poverty line (BPL) families.

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• According to the reports, the scheme has been in the works for about three years now and is likely to be rolled out soon. In the first phase of the rollout, the government will cover 100 Smart Cities. The government will be spending an estimated Rs 2,700 crore every year from its exchequer to finance the pro-poor scheme.

• The municipal body of the city concerned will be responsible for the distribution of rent vouchers to tenants. These bodies will also be responsible for identifying the families that will be given rental vouchers, depending on their annual income.

Also read: Is There A Place For Slum Dwellers In India's Smart Cities Mission?  

• Municipal bodies will assess the value of the rent vouchers based on the size of the unit and prevalent rent rates in a particular locality. A landlord can redeem the value of these vouchers at citizen service bureaus.

• In case the value of the voucher allotted to a tenant is less than the actual rent he pays, the tenant will have to pay the balance amount using his own means.  

• Media reports say that the Benami properties that will be confiscated by the Central government and can't be auctioned or sold, could be used to provide rental housing.