Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
Encyclopedia
The Seventh Schedule of Indian Constitution
has allocated the matters pertaining to housing
and urban development to the State; and further with The Constitution 74th Amendment Act, 1993 these have been delegated further to the Local Bodies. As such the Constitutional and legal authority of the ministry is limited to the National Capital Territory of Delhi
and other Union Territories. The authority of the ministry stems from the fact that it is the Government of India that allocates resources to the State Governments through various centrally sponsored schemes, provides finances through national financial institutions and supports various external assistance programmes for housing and urban development in the country as a whole.
The ministry, as of May 2008, is headed by a Minister of State (Independent Charge) Kumari Selja.
The Ministry was attached on and off with the Ministry of Urban Development
on many occasions, before finally becoming independent in 2004.
has launched various programs since Independence to alleviate poverty and address the widening income gap, both, amongst the upper and lower classes of society, and amongst the rural and urban parts of the country. As trends in the Gini coefficient
reflect, the income gaps were not as pronounced until the early 1980’s, but the situation has been continually getting worse since. Misplaced priorities of the Indian Government and bad planning of subsidy programs is largely responsible for this. Hosting the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2010 that cost the exchequer an approximate $2.5 Billion excluding the price of non-sports related infrastructure is a case in point. That money could have been used better in helping alleviate the astounding number of farmer suicides over the last decade. While newly launched programs like NREGA, NRHM, Food Security Act, Mid-day Meals and Bharat Nirman Yojana have demonstrated success in the initial stages, their performance over the long-run still remains to be seen. The shortsightedness of the Indian government often leads it to launch populist programs that may not necessarily work well. Low-hanging fruits like increasing the minimum wages of the country can go a long way in achieving the goal of poverty alleviation, but are yet to be taken up in spite of reminders from leading economists.
Constitution of India
The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions, and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens...
has allocated the matters pertaining to housing
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
and urban development to the State; and further with The Constitution 74th Amendment Act, 1993 these have been delegated further to the Local Bodies. As such the Constitutional and legal authority of the ministry is limited to the National Capital Territory of Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
and other Union Territories. The authority of the ministry stems from the fact that it is the Government of India that allocates resources to the State Governments through various centrally sponsored schemes, provides finances through national financial institutions and supports various external assistance programmes for housing and urban development in the country as a whole.
The ministry, as of May 2008, is headed by a Minister of State (Independent Charge) Kumari Selja.
The Ministry was attached on and off with the Ministry of Urban Development
Ministry of Urban Development (India)
The Ministry of Urban Development , a branch of the Government of India, is the apex bodyfor formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to the housing and urban development in India. As of February 2011, head of the ministry is the Cabinet Minister Kamal Nath...
on many occasions, before finally becoming independent in 2004.
Divisions
The ministry has administrative control over the following:- Attached offices
- National Building Organisation (NBO)
- Public sector undertakings
- Hindustan Prefab Limited (HPL)
- Housing and Urban Development CorporationHousing and Urban Development CorporationThe Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited is a government-owned corporation in India. One of the public sector undertakings, it is wholly owned by the Union Government and is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. It is charged with...
(HUDCO)
- Statutory and autonomous bodies
- Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC)
- Central Government Employees Welfare Housing Organisation (CGEWHO)
- National Cooperative Housing Federation of India (NCHFI)
- Principal Account Office (PAO)
Other Impacts of similar Government Programs
The Government of IndiaGovernment of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
has launched various programs since Independence to alleviate poverty and address the widening income gap, both, amongst the upper and lower classes of society, and amongst the rural and urban parts of the country. As trends in the Gini coefficient
Gini coefficient
The Gini coefficient is a measure of statistical dispersion developed by the Italian statistician and sociologist Corrado Gini and published in his 1912 paper "Variability and Mutability" ....
reflect, the income gaps were not as pronounced until the early 1980’s, but the situation has been continually getting worse since. Misplaced priorities of the Indian Government and bad planning of subsidy programs is largely responsible for this. Hosting the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2010 that cost the exchequer an approximate $2.5 Billion excluding the price of non-sports related infrastructure is a case in point. That money could have been used better in helping alleviate the astounding number of farmer suicides over the last decade. While newly launched programs like NREGA, NRHM, Food Security Act, Mid-day Meals and Bharat Nirman Yojana have demonstrated success in the initial stages, their performance over the long-run still remains to be seen. The shortsightedness of the Indian government often leads it to launch populist programs that may not necessarily work well. Low-hanging fruits like increasing the minimum wages of the country can go a long way in achieving the goal of poverty alleviation, but are yet to be taken up in spite of reminders from leading economists.