By: Shreyansh Singh

image Source:99acres.com

Executive summary:

The In-Situ Slum Redevelopment (ISSR) vertical under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) addresses urban housing challenges in India through an inventive strategy of public private partnership. This model aims to incentivize private developers by giving them monetary assistance and development rights of the land to renew and redevelop the slum areas. The central aim of the program is to provide slum dwellers with dignified housing without displacing them, to bring them into the formal urban settlement [1]. However, there are several challenges when it comes to the implementation of the program that demands policy mediation and prompt attention.

Background:

The speedy urbanization in India has driven the expansion of slum population from approximately 52.37 million in 2001 to 65.5 million in 2011 [2]. The ISSR component under PMAY – Urban in 2015 was introduced to tackle this challenge by adopting a structural shift from conventional government-led rehabilitation projects of slum to a private developer-based model that utilizes the resources and proficiency of the private sector.

The ISSR approach is based on three fundamental principles:

1. Utilization of land as a resource

2. Providing housing at the same location with private sector participation

3. Provision of financial assistance and subsidies to private developers to make projects financially viable.

Key features:

Financial Structure:

•  Provision of a slum rehabilitation grant of INR (1,00,000) per house in the form of subsidy
•  In cases of requirement, Floor Area Ratio (FAR)/Floor Space Index (FSI)/ Transferable Development Rights (TDR) are offered to private developers to make the redevelopment projects economically feasible.

Implementation Framework:

•  The authorities concerned should determine whether a particular slum falls in the category of redevelopment based on detailed analysis of slums with regard to the slum area, number of slum dwellers, their location, and market value of the land.
• The State/UT Government will decide and fix the contribution from beneficiaries in slum redevelopment project, if required.
•  The eligibility parameters of the slum dwellers such as cut-off date, etc. will be ideally determined through amendment by States/UTs.
•  The redeveloped slums under ISSR are mandatorily required to be de notified.

Technical specifications:

• The slum redevelopment project comprises of two components namely: (i) Slum rehabilitation: Provision of housing accompanying primary civic infrastructure. (ii) Free sale: It allows private developers for selling in the open market in order cross subsidize the redevelopment project.
• The formulation of redevelopment projects should be done in consultation with the association or groups of slum dwellers.
• The determination of eligibility criteria of the private developers would be done by States/UTs and ULBs and the selection process will be done through an open transparent bidding process.
• The slum redevelopment projects would need compliance with the local laws of various agencies pertaining to the State/UT.

Key Issues:

Implementation challenges –

Land related issues:

1. Scarcity of the availability of cadastral records leads to the stalling in receival of TDR benefits by private developers.
2. Challenges in deciding eligible beneficiaries.
3. Hostility from existing landowners

Financial feasibility:

1. Weak framework of property valuation impends the correct assessment of property rates [3].
2. Limited scope of profit in smaller cities.
3. Cases of insufficient compensation to private developers.

Social concerns:

1. Lack of adequate community consultation, which leads to the substandard design of buildings, lacking required ventilation and sunlight [4]. This further deprives slum dwellers of their right to decent living
2. The transition creates disruption in the community which results in the deprivation of livelihood chances.

Technical constraints:

1. The availability of suitable land parcels for the slum redevelopment projects is low
2. The structural concerns regarding poor construction quality plagues several slum redevelopment projects due to rampant issues of leakage from ceilings, insufficient sewage system outlets, poor cleanliness and maintenance etc. are frequently reported by the residents [5].

Recommendations:

Short-term interventions:

1. Streamlining of compliance procedures by the following methods: (i) establishment of a system of single window clearance. (ii) Slum redevelopment projects should be approved within a defined timeline. (iii) Formulation of dedicated ISSR cells in municipal bodies.
2. Amplification of financial feasibility by adopting the following measures: (i) Subsidies to private developers should be decided and reviewed based on the parameters of location as well. (ii) To foster the growth of slum redevelopment projects even in smaller cities, supplementary incentives should be provided.
3. Bolstering community participation through the following ways: (i) mandatory provision of consultation of stakeholders in the redevelopment projects. (ii) Establishment of competent grievance redressal system.

Long term strategic interventions:

1. Enhancement in the framework of policy through the following measures: (i) Effective development of resolution mechanism of ownership rights pertaining to land. (ii) There should be standardization of the identification of eligible beneficiaries.
2. Capacity building should be encouraged by the adoption of the following ways: (i) Municipal officials should be formally trained in project management for such redevelopment projects. (ii) The technical capacities of local bodies should be upgraded.
3. Local contextualization is imperative for redevelopment projects, and it can be promoted in the following ways: (i) The redevelopment projects should be integrated with the ongoing smart city plans in the city. (ii) Households shouldn’t be reduced to merely being recipients, but rather they should be a better community led approach.

References:

[1] Government of India. (2016). Guidelines for Housing for All (Urban). Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

[2] Mundhe, N., Algur, K., Deshmukh, S., & Boke, K. (2021). Urbanization & growth of slums in India: Evidence from Census of India (2001-2011). Towards Excellence. Gujarat University.

[3] Hindman, M., Lu-Hill, O., Murphy, S., Rao, S., Shah, Y., & Zhu, Z. (2015). Slum redevelopment in India: Challenges and opportunities. National Institute of Urban Affairs.

[4] Khaire, M., & Jha, S. K. (2022). Time to revamp Awas Yojana’s strategy to upgrade slums. The India Forum.

[5] Vaid, U. (2021). Delivering the promise of ‘better homes’?: Assessing housing quality impacts of slum redevelopment in India. ScienceDirect, 116.