Kumari Selja, 47 Minister of State (Independent Charge), Housing & Poverty Allevation

Result: 3/10

Selja ran a ministry whose mandate overlapped with that of the Urban Development and Rural Development ministries and whose annual budget was less than 0.5 per cent of total budget expenditure.

HER BRIEF

The UPA’s CMP listed massive expansion of social housing in towns and cities, paying particular attention to the needs of slum-dwellers, housing for the weaker sections in rural areas, technologies to promote low-cost housing.

The deliveries

Selja managed to get two ambitious affordable housing schemes cleared—one for housing loans and another for LIG/MIG housing.

Reforms derailed

• Of its three poverty alleviation programmes, the National Slum Development Programme was discontinued a year after the government came to power. The Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY), a self-employment scheme for the urban poor, progressed slowly; unspent amount of Rs 252 crore in previous years far exceeded the total budget allocation of Rs 213.92 crore in 2007-08.

• Lack of initiative meant the housing shortage continued. In part, the housing shortage led to the real estate bubble that was allowed to balloon unchecked.

• Work on the model real estate regulator Bill, a long standing demand of various consumer groups, was initiated only two months ago.

Reforms Scuttled

Despite repeated talks of increasing tax benefit on home loans, Selja could not push the proposal with the Finance Ministry.

Opportunities BLOWN

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