Introduction

1990 and accordingly the guidelines were suitably revised. The Yojana consisted of three schemes; (i)the scheme of Urban Micro Enterprises, (ii) thescheme of Urban Wage Employment and (iii) thescheme of Housing and shelter Upgradation.
URBAN POVERTY ALLEVIATION
PROGRAMMES
3.1 The Scheme of Urban Micro Enterprises(SUME)- Urban poverty alleviation is a challenging task before The Scheme of Urban Micro Enterprises assists the approaches. The goal is to adequately feed, educate, urban poor in upgrading their skills and setting-up house and employ the large and rapidly growing self employment ventures. At present, the criterion of number of impoverished city dwellers. According to urban poverty is an annual household income of less the Seventh Plan estimates, 50.5 million people or than Rs. 7,200/-. A subsidy is provided towards 27.7% of the urban population were living below the setting up the micro-enterprises upto 25% of the poverty line in 1984-85. The urban population has project cost with a ceiling of Rs. 5,000/- for increased by 36.19% from about 160 million in 1981 Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and women to about 217 million in 1991 further aggravating the beneficiaries and Rs. 4,000/- for general category scenario of urban employment. The bulk of the urban beneficiaries. The remaining amount of the project poor are living in extremely deprived conditions with cost is available from banks as a loan upto a insufficient physical amenities like low-cost water maximum of Rs. 15,000/- for SC/ST and women supply, sanitation, sewerage, drainage, community centres, health care, nutrition, pre-school and non- beneficiaries. The rate of interest on loans upto Rs.
formal education. A significant portion of the urban 7,500/- is 10% and for loans beyond Rs. 7,500/- and poor belong to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes upto R s . 15,000/-, it is 11.5%. This scheme is and Minorities. The need of the hour is to assist the applicable to all urban settlements. The expenditure urban poor by helping them to set up micro-enter- on the subsidy element of the scheme is to be prises thereby providing them avenues for enhance- shared between the Central Government and the ment or supplementation of their incomes. Another State Government/Urban Local Bodies on a 50:50 major area of assistance to the urban poor is basis. Several States such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, provision of funds for housing or shelter upgradation.
Orissa, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Haryana, Kerala On first January 1990, the Central Government and Tamil Nadu have set up State Urban Develop- announced an Action Plan according a high priority ment Agencies/District Urban Development Agencies to substantial expansion of the programmes serving for streamlining the administrative mechanism for implementing the Nehru Rozgar Yojana. The Central 2. The Ministry of Urban Development is monitoring Government released an amount of Rs. 48.03 crores the implementation of three significant programmes as its share of subsidy and Rs. 11.34 crores for training to the States/ UTs during 1989-90 and 1990- 91 for the scheme of Urban Micro Enterprises (SUME). The Central Government has made an (ii) the Urban Basic Services for the Poor; and , allocation of Rs. 21.60 Crores for subsidy and (iii) the Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums.
Rs. 5.40 Crores for Training during 1991-92 for SUME. An amount of Rs. 32.21 Crores has ‘been A brief analysis of these schemes is given in the sanctioned as subsidy for setting up micro-enter- prises till December, 1991 since the scheme gotunderway in the middle of 1990. More than 39,500 3. Nehru Rozgar Yojana
beneficiaries have been trained or undergoing train- In respose to the challenges posed by the urban ing in various trades since the inception of the poverty, the Nehru Rozgar Yojana was launched by scheme. About 1.62 lakhs beneficiaries have been the Ministry in October, 1989. It was recast in March, assisted so far for setting up micro-enterprises.
3.2 The Scheme of Urban Wage Employment of subsidy for shelter upgradation and Rs. 13.69 Crores for training for skill upgradation in construc- tion trades to HUDCO during 1989-90 and 1990-91 The Scheme of Urban Wage Employment provides for the Scheme of Housing and Shelter Upgradation wage opportunities to the urban poor by utilising their (SHASU). The Central Government has made an labour for construction of socially and economically allocation of Rs. 17.08 Crores for subsidy for shelter useful public assets in the jurisdictions of Urban upgradation and Rs. 4.27, Crores for training during Local Bodies. A material-labour ratio of 60:40 is to be 1991-92 for SHASU. HUDCO has sanctioned 347 maintained under the scheme for various public schemes for Housing and Shelter Upgradation upto works aggregating at the district level. The minimum December, 1991 since the inception of the Yojana.
wages prevalent in each urban area are to be paid to These schemes entail loan and subsidy component the unskilled labour. This scheme is applicable to all of Rs. 232.02 Crores involving construction/renova- urban areas with a population below one lakh. The expenditure on the scheme is shared between theCentral Government and the State Governments/ 3.4 Urban Local Bodies are playing a significant role Urban Local Bodies on 80:20 basis. The Central in the implementation of the Nehru Rozgar Yojana.
Government released an amount of Rs. 120.26 They are involved in providing work places and Crores as its share for the scheme of Urban Wage selling outlets to the beneficiaries maintaining liaison Employment (SUWE) to the States/UTs during 1989- with banks and ensuring provision of backward and 90 and 1990-91. The Central Government has made forward linkages so that the micro enterprises set up an allocation of Rs. 39.90 Crores during 1991-92 for under the scheme record a stable growth.
SUWE. Since the launching of the scheme, Rs.
73.23 Crores have been spent till December, 1991 4. The programme of Urban Basic Services for
on public works in various States/UTs and these the Poor (UBSP)
works had generated more than 117 lakhs mandays The centrally sponsored programme of Urban Basic Services was introduced in 1986 with the assistanceof UNICEF for provision of basic social services and The Scheme of Housing & Shelter Upgradation
physical amenities in urban slums. The programme aimed at convergence of social and physical services 3.3 The Scheme of Housing and Shelter Upgradation rendered by different specialist departments like seeks to provide assistance for housing and shelter upgradation to the economically weaker sections of Industrial Training in Urban Slums with special focus the urban population as well as to provide oppor- on child and women survival and development tunities for Wage Employment and upgradation of through immunization, nutrition supplementation, pre- construction skills. A loan upto a limit of Rs. 3,000/- school and creche facilities and training for income at 7% rate of interest and a subsidy upto a ceiling of generation in relation to social services and provision Rs. 1,000/- is provided under this scheme to entitled of basic physical facilities such as water supply, beneficiaries for Housing/Shelter upgradation. The drainage and low cost sanitation in relation to physi- loan amount of Rs. 3,000/- can be further enhanced cal services. The .programme emphasized community by an additional amount of Rs. 18,000/- under the
based management through neighbourhood commit- EWS scheme of HUDCO. This scheme is applicable tees of the urban poor themselves. During 1990-91 to urban settlements having a population between the programme was revised and enlarged and came one lakh and twenty lakhs. Urban settlements in to be known as Urban Basic Services for the Poor.
newly developing industrial townships, Union Ter- This programme seeks to bring about a functional ritories, Goa and in hill districts (as defined by the integration between the provision of social services Planning Commission) having population below one under UBSP and the provision of physical amenities lakh are also covered. The subsidy grants under this under the state sector scheme of Environmental scheme are shared between the Central and the Improvement of Urban Slums. Like UBS during the State Government/Local Bodies on a 80:20 basis.
Vllth Five Year Plan period, the revised scheme Institutional finance requirements for the scheme are seeks to enable the urban poor to have access to provided by HUDCO. The entire expenditure on basic services through convergence of the activities training and infrastructure support is borne by the of specialist government departments. The revised Central Government. The Central Government programme has enlarged the shelf of social services released an amount of Rs. 48.85 Crores as its share to be provided to the urban poor by including special inputs tailored for street children, handicapped, aged the Minimum Needs Programme (MNP) in 1974 and and destitute on the one hand and for solving socio- was transferred to the State sector. The scheme economic problems characterising slums like juvenile aims at ameliorating the living conditions of urban delinquency, communalism, gambling and alcoholism slum dwellers and envisages provision of drinking on the other hand. The onus of choosing from water, drainage, community baths, community latri- competing social inputs has been given to the nes, widening and paving of existing lanes, street- neighbourhood committees of the slum dwellers.
lighting and other community facilities. The improve- Community participation is the foundation on which ments are meant to be carried out in notified slums which are not likely to be cleared within the next 4.1 An amount of Rs. 24.85 Crores of Central share was released by the Central Government to theStates/UTs during 1990-91. During 1991-92, the 5.3 The total outlay on this scheme during the UBSP scheme is fully financed by the Central Gov- Seventh Plan was Rs. 269.55 Crores based on a per ernment and an outlay of Rs. 17 Crores has been capita expenditure of Rs. 300 per slum dweller. The earmarked for it. It is proposed to continue providing target for coverage during the Seventh Five Year basic services in 168 towns covered under the Plan period was 9 million slum dwellers. It is hearten- Scheme of Urban Basic Services during the Vllth ing to note that this target has been exceeded and Plan and central allocation of Rs. 2.00 Crores has 9.98 million slum dwellers have been covered.
been made for the purpose and 275 new towns have Against the target of covering 15.40 lakhs slum been identified for provision of social services under dwellers during 1990-91, 19.35 lakhs slum dwellers were covered during the last financial year whichcomes to 125%. The target fixed for the current 5. Environmental improvement of Urban Slums
financial year is 12.96 lakhs slum dwellers againstwhich 10.06 lakhs slum dwellers have been covered 5.1 The Task Force on Urban Development of the up to end of Dec., 1991. Further, the per capita Planning Commission for the Seventh Five Year Plan expenditure under the scheme has been increased estimated that the slum population in 1990 will be from Rs. 300 to Rs. 525 and additional inputs pertaining to community facilities, garbage removal 5.2 The scheme of Environmental Improvement of and maintenance have been built into the scheme.
Urban Slums (EIUS) was formulated as a response Moreover, the scheme is now to be implemented in to the growing problem of slums during the Fifth Five convergence with the programme of Urban Basic Year Plan. The scheme was made an integral part of

Source: http://mhupa.gov.in/pdf/annual-reports/1991-1992/English/5.pdf