The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs will hand over 1 crore homes under Prime Minister Awas Yojana by December 2018, where the present is witnessing 3 to 5 lakh home sanctions being done every month, said Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India.

“Today my office has sanctioned 318,000 homes to take the tally to 51 lakhs so far,” Puri said at an interactive session on “Sustainable Development Goals” and moving up the scale with CSR and flagship programs — organized jointly by Research and Information System for Developing Countries and Forum Indian Development Cooperation.

Differentiating between PMAY and affordable housing, the minister said there is a “huge trust deficit” between the Government and Slums, and affordable housing is part of corporate social responsibility.

“As part of the “Smart City” initiative, safe transportation, lower environment impact, waste to energy and waste to compost, Universal access for women, children and old people; is where intervention is required beyond building homes, Puri said while citing the example of Surat in Gujarat where the crime rate dropped by over 20% with the usage of technology like CCTVs. “To conclude, there is no shortage of funds as all one needs is a bankable project,” the minister said.

Prof. Sachin Chaturvedi, Director-General of RIS, Ravichandran Natarajan, Head, Partnerships & Corporate Relations, Tata Trusts and Ms Radhika Kaul Batra, Chief of Staff, UN Resident Coordinators’ Office, New Delhi were also present on the occasion.