2 lakh 13 thousand flats built under government schemes still unoccupied as beneficiaries unwilling to shift

NEW DELHI: Over 20 per cent of the low-cost units built under various urban housing schemes are lying vacant due to "reluctance" of slum dwellers or beneficiaries to shift there, the government told the Lok Sabha today.

"As many as 2.13 lakh houses out of the 10.59 lakh houses constructed under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, Rajiv Awas Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban)- Housing for All, in the country are yet to be occupied by beneficiaries," MoS for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Rao Inderjit Singh said in a written reply to a question.

The reasons, given by the states and the Union Territories, are mainly reluctance of slum dwellers or the beneficiaries to relocate, lack of or incomplete basic infrastructure and access to sources of livelihood, among others, he said.

According to the data provided by the minister, the highest number of 40,948 houses are vacant in Maharashtra, followed by Delhi (26,199), Gujarat (23,197), Andhra Pradesh (19,652), Telangana (19,166) and Uttar Pradesh (15,980).

To a question on the criteria for allocation of these houses to the beneficiaries, he said identification of beneficiaries under these schemes is the responsibility of the states and the UTs.

Shortage of urban housing in the country was estimated at 18.78 million in 2012. Of these, 10.55 million were in economically weaker section category, 7.41 million in lower income groups category and the remaining 0.82 million in the middle and above category.