Deepak Parekh to head expert panel on Rajiv Awas Yojana

The Government today announced an eight-member expert committee under the chairmanship of HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh to give its comments on the draft guidelines of the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY).

Addressing th Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to her ministries, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Tourism Minister Kumari Selja said the scheme was meant for slum dwellers and the urban poor and aimed at making India slum-free.

She said that, under the scheme, support would be extended to States willing to assign property rights to slum dwellers.

The other members of the panel are Mr Nasir Munjee, Mr S. Sridhar, Prof. O P Mathur, Ms Renana Jhabwala, Ms Sheela Patel, Mr Rohtas Goyal and Mr Kumar Gera.

According to the terms of reference, the committee will critically examine the draft RAY scheme by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation in order to make suggestion regarding the strategy, financial pattern and its other features so as to make it a practical and implementable instrument of making India slum-free.

The committee will submit its recommendations within one month from the date of its first meeting, an official press release said.

In the Union Budget for 2010-11, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has proposed an increase of over 700 per cent in the allocation for RAY to Rs 1270 crore from Rs 150 crore last year, the release added.

NNN