NEW DELHI: The Delhi government is set to provide slum dwellers modern amenities like shopping complexes, parking spaces and e-rickshaw charging points as part of a new rehabilitation and resettlement policy being prepared, a source said on Saturday.
Facilities under consideration include schools, Jan Suvidha Kendras, and dedicated sanitation arrangements for women, according to the government’s proposed policy plan.
The policy may to be finalised this month.
The government also plans to extend the eligibility cut-off date under the existing policy by 10 years from January 1, 2015, to January 1, 2025, making many slum dwellers eligible for permanent housing. There are 750 slum clusters in Delhi.
Nearly half are located on land owned by Central government agencies such as the railways, the Land and Development Office and the Delhi Development Authority, which acts as the nodal agency for their rehab.
The remaining slums are situated on land owned by the government, where rehabilitation is overseen by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board under the urban development department.
Currently, slum rehabilitation is governed by the Delhi Slum and Jhuggi Jhopri Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2015, which provides alternative accommodation at the same site or within a 5-km radius.