Q4) Consider the following statements regarding the three schemes for urban areas launched by Ministry of Urban Development:
1) Selection of AMRUT and smart cities will be based on an objective and equitable criteria with equal weightage to urban population and number of statutory cities in each state/UT
2) Smart City Action Plans will be implemented by Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) to be created for each city
3) In Housing for All scheme state governments will have the flexibility to use these grants for any slum rehabilitation project as deemed fit
Which of the above statements are correct?
All 1, 2&3
Ans:4)(a) Ministry of Urban Development launches three schemes for urban areas:
As per the new guidelines, states and UTs will now appraise and approve individual projects.
Selection criteria: Potential smart cities and AMRUT cities will be selected based on an objective and equitable criteria with equal weightage to urban population and number of statutory cities in each state/UT. The housing scheme will be implemented in all the 4,041 statutory towns.
Financial assistance: Each smart city will be provided central assistance of Rs.100 crore per year. Smart City Action Plans will be implemented by Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) to be created for each city and state governments will ensure steady stream of resources for SPVs. Under AMRUT, allocation of funds will be as per urban population and number of towns in each state/UT. Under Housing for All, assistance will be based on the number of urban poor and slum dwellers.
Members of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies will be involved in the formulation and monitoring of projects.
Key guidelines of the schemes include:
Smart Cities: Central assistance will be used only for infrastructure projects which have larger public benefit.
Special Purpose Vehicles will be set up for the implementation of smart city plans with the equity share being 50:50 between states and urban local bodies.
AMRUT: A set of 11 reforms will be implemented in four years including: (i) promoting e-governance, (ii) improving collection of various taxes, fees and user charges, (iii) devolution of funds and functionaries to urban local bodies, (iv) setting up financial intermediaries for pooling and disbursement of resources, and (v) credit rating of urban local bodies.
Housing for All: Central grants of one lakh rupees per house, on an average, will be available under the slum rehabilitation programme. State governments will have the flexibility to use these grants for any slum rehabilitation project as deemed fit. Ownership of houses will be in the name of the woman or jointly with her husband