Govt will meet Housing for All target ahead of schedule, by mid-2019: Union minister Puri

Minister of state Hardeep Singh Puri says of 11 million houses, 4.5 million units sanctioned already, will achieve goal set for 2022 by 2019

The Union government on Tuesday said it would achieve its Housing for All by 2022 goal three years ahead of schedule, by mid-2019.

Hardeep Singh Puri, Union minister of state for housing and urban affairs. (HT File Photo)

Speaking to media in Mumbai, Hardeep Singh Puri, Union minister of state for housing and urban affairs, said the ‘housing for all’ scheme, which aims to generate 11 million housing units, will be completed before time. “Initially, there was some problem with funds, which we have resolved. Of the 11 million houses, 4.5 million units have been sanctioned already,” Puri said. “In addition, we are sanctioning 3-4 lakh houses every month. This means we will achieve the goal by mid-2019.”

Housing for All by 2022 is one of the most ambitious programmes unveiled by the Centre. The state government has been coming up with various plans to create a huge stock of affordable housing, such as incentivising the redevelopment of old buildings, slum rehabilitation schemes, and making use of government land as well as salt pan land.

Critics, however, said the minister’s claim is misleading. “This is just a juggling of figures and is nowhere close to ground reality. They will not be able to achieve even 25% of the target within the next year,” said housing activist Ramesh Prabhu, who heads the Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association.