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Foundation stone for slum-free Rangpo laid

Foundation stone for slum-free Rangpo laid
Union Minister assures full support to Chamling for a slum-free Sikkim

Sikkim Express: www. sikkimexpress. com

Foundation stone for slum-free Rangpo laid

RANGPO, December 5: Union Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Kumari Selja today laid the foundation stone of Rs. 25 crores ‘Basic Services to Urban Poor’ (BSUP) housing project here at Rangpo which will benefit the local 202 poor families and make the gateway to Sikkim a slum free zone.

The BUSP project is a component under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

Chief Minister Pawan Chamling, cabinet ministers, legislatures, government officials and local people also attended the foundation stone laying ceremony.

In her address, the Union Minister who is on a three tour of Sikkim said that for the first time in the history of the country, the UPA government laid focus on providing ‘makaan’ to the common man in cities and towns. She informed that the Union government has so far sanctioned more than 2500 projects worth around Rs. 100,000 crores in the country under all the four components of JNNURM.

The houses under JNNURM will come under the ownership of house in the name of wife or husband and wife jointly and with provision of basic services such as water, sanitation, social security, education and health, Selja said.

The Minister informed that her Ministry has sanctioned 3 projects for Sikkim with the total project cost of Rs. 33.58 crores covering 254 houses for the poor under BSUP. This involves Central grant of Rs. 29.06 crores, she said adding that the Ministry had recently provided an additional support of Rs. 50 crores for Sikkim under the scheme of affordable housing in partnership. Once the project report is received, we will process if for sanction, she said.

Selja said that the projects for housing and basic amenities to the urban poor in Sikkim were sanctioned to enable the State government to attain the broader goal of making Sikkim slum-free and ensure that the urban poor are provided with basic amenities. She urged Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling to workout a plan for a slum-free Sikkim where all the poor residents would own a home and access basic services. She also urged that all slum dwellers are provided with property rights and enabled to lead a life with dignity.

In addition to JNNURM and the newly announced Rajiv Awas Yojana, the Minister said that her Ministry is working on several initiatives for the urban poor where the Swarna Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojana has been revamped and budget for the same has been hiked to Rs. 515 crores in 2009-10.

Selja said her Ministry has been pursuing the goal of Slum-free Urban India Campaign under JNNURM, launched since October 2007 from Tirupathi. This campaign stipulates that seven basic amenities and entitlements to the urban poor, namely land tenure, affordable shelter, water, sanitation, education, health and social security must be provided to the slum-dwellers in the country by 2012.

The Minister expressed her hopes that the Sikkim government would ensure that the benefits of JNNURM and other schemes reach the urban poor, especially the youth and women. “These programmes have to be implemented in convergence with other Government of India initiatives”, she said.

Selja assured full support from the Centre to Sikkim government to implement programmes for the poor and disadvantaged sections.

In his address, the Chief Minister highlighted the developments taken in Sikkim. He said that Gangtok has been beautified with modern amenities adding similar projects would be launched for other urban areas of Sikkim. He also informed about the task taken for a master development plan for Sikkim which is being prepared by a Singapore consultancy firm.

Earlier, State Urban Development minister presented the welcome address where he said that BSUP project at Rangpo would be completed in two years.

In his address, Lok Sabha member PD Rai pointed out that since the SDF party came into power, poverty has reduced from 35 percent to 20 percent. He also informed the target to make Sikkim a slum free State.

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