The government has identified 305 cities and towns across nine states for implementation of its ambitious ‘Housing for All’ scheme.

As many as 305 cities and towns have been identified in nine states for beginning of construction of houses for the urban poor under the scheme, said a senior Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) Ministry official.

The HUPA Ministry would provide assistance of over Rs 2 lakh crore over the next six years for enabling two crore urban poor own their own houses.

The selected cities and towns are in Chhattisgarh (36 cities/towns), Gujarat (30), Jammu and Kashmir (19), Jharkhand (15), Kerala (15), Madhya Pradesh (74), Odisha (42), Rajasthan (40) and Telangana (34).

Under the ‘Housing for All’ initiative of the central government, named as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 25 this year, two crore houses are targeted to be built for the poor in urban areas by year 2022, coinciding with 75 years of Independence.

Besides these nines states, the official said, six more states have signed Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Ministry committing themselves to implement six mandatory reforms essential for making the housing mission in urban areas a success.

The states that have so far agreed to implement the mandatory reform measures are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana and Uttarakhand.

By signing the MoA, the states agreed to make necessary changes including doing away with the requirement of separate non-agricultural permission in case land falls in residential zone earmarked in Master Plan of city or town and preparing or amending Master Plans earmarking land for affordable housing, among others.