The Hindu Business Line : Model Bill for regulating realty sector to be firmed up by Aug-Sept

New Delhi, July 1 A model Bill for regulating the real estate sector is expected to be finalised by August-September timeframe, the Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Ms Kumari Selja, said on Wednesday.

Unveiling the 100 day agenda for her Ministry, Ms Selja said that the Model Bill would propose a regulator and aim to address the concerns of consumers as well as the real estate industry. The finer details of the model Bill could not be ascertained.

“We have initiated a dialogue with all key stakeholders including private sector, NGOs, and various States to prepare the model Bill for regulating the real estate sector. There are two-fold concerns, one from consumers who are sometime exploited and the other aspect is the real estate industry which is saying please help us get the clearances,” the Minister said. A senior Ministry official told Business Line that the model Bill would focus on affordable housing and also address regulation and registration.

Focus area

The Minister said that a key focus area for the Ministry over the next 100 days would be formulation of Rajiv Awas Yojana for slum dwellers and the urban poor, with a view to promote a slum-free India in the next five years. The Government would extend support to States willing to assign property rights to people living in slums, she said.

Elaborating on the model legal framework for according property rights to slum dwellers, the Minister said that this framework would draw on the best practices both within and outside the country and be circulated to States and UTs to enable them establish their own legal frameworks suiting local conditions.

Also, following the National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy 2007 and report of the High Level Task Force on affordable housing, the Ministry will now set up two committees. The first committee will work out the parameters for estimating the number of households under the categories of affordability (EWS, LIG, LMIG) and the other will focus on promotion of housing micro finance company, which could be permitted to take household saving as deposits.

She said that the Ministry would also launch skill development programme for employment promotion of urban poor, targeting 10 lakh people over the next five years (starting with 2 lakh in FY10).