The income criterion for defining beneficiaries under Government housing schemes has been raised. The real estate industry reacted by terming the move as practical, but insufficient.
On Wednesday, the Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister, Ajay Maken, approved the upward revision. Now, an urban poor with annual household income of up to Rs 1 lakh will be classified under Economically Weaker Section (EWS). Earlier, this limit was Rs 5,000 a month or Rs 60,000 a year.
Similarly, an urban poor, whose annual income falls between Rs 1 and 2 lakh will be categorised as belonging to the Low Income Group (LIG), against the earlier Rs 5,001 to Rs 10,000 a month or Rs 60,012 to Rs 1,20,000 a year.
Maken said the previous income criteria for selection of beneficiaries under various schemes of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation were fixed during 2010.
The revised criteria, he said, has been approvedbased ongrowth in per capita income, minimum wages for non-agriculture workers, monthly per capita expenditure, NHB’s RESIDEX, consumer price index and consumer food price index.
Not too pleased
The real estate industry was not totally convinced by the latest move. Industry body, NAREDCO’s, President, Navin Raheja, said, “With inflation and income going up, revising the income criterion upward is a practical move, but it should be left to the States to decide the criterion on the basis of property index in various cities.” He said that it was not cost of construction, but floor space index (FSI) and cost of land that was important.
Going by the land cost in the National Capital Region, an EWS house with a super carpet area of 300 square feet will cost at least Rs 15 lakh. “If one takes a housing loan, then the EMI will be Rs 12,000-13,000. Now, can a person with a monthly income of Rs 8,000 or so afford this,” he asks.