For the purpose of providing basic urban services, all under-serviced settlements should be identified and demarcated from regular planned neighbourhoods inhabited by better off residents. Once identified, these settlements should be listed by the urban local body.
Registration of slum dwellers :
All people residing in such listed settlements should then be registered with the ULB in order to prevent ineligible beneficiaries being included in development programmes and schemes just before the initiation of improvement works or the issue of tenurial rights.
Identity Card :
A suitable identity card shall be issued to all households in listed slums. The identity card may contain a few details such as household name, address, details of family members etc
Basic Service Eligibility :
Once settlements have been listed in the above manner all registered residents will be automatically eligible to receive basic minimum services/ amenities from the urban local bodies (ULB) pending any more permanent measures taken to upgrade, rehabilitate or resettle the community.
Other Entitlements :
All urban poor, regardless of their land tenure status, shall be entitled to any other special assistance or welfare schemes that are operative within the urban area and/or the State and which are not geographically or spatially determined but targeted to specific poverty groups. These may include schemes for economic support, credit, pensions, insurance etc and services.
De-listing
The urban local bodies should de-list those settlements which have been provided with a sustainable level of basic services and where socio-economic indicators have reached defined acceptable norms. ULBs may also consider prescribing a certain period of time (two or three years) for providing basic services under any slum development programmes after which, the area should be reviewed for de-listing.
Classification of Land Status/Tenability
The land status of all listed slums/informal settlements should be classified by the ULB as either Tenable or Untenable in order to determine whether or not regular planned service provision will be undertaken on an in-situ or re-settlement basis. All listed slums/informal settlements should be considered as Tenable unless the site falls strictly within the definition of Untenability as expressed below:
A site shall not be declared as Untenable unless existence of human habitation on such sites entails undue risk to the safety or health or life of the residents themselves or where habitation on such sites is considered contrary to "public interest".
Granting of Tenure
Tenure on Government Owned Land: Tenure shall be granted to all residents on tenable sites owned or acquired by government. Full property rights shall be granted on resettlement and/or rehabilitation sites. Tenure shall be allotted in the joint names of the head of household and spouse, subject to the proviso that single women or single men headed households shall not be precluded from having full tenure rights. Other forms of tenure may also be considered, if desired by the community. This may include: group tenure, collective tenure, co-operative tenure etc.
Tenure on Privately owned lands:
Land Acquisition: All Tenable settlements on private land should be acquired unless the ULB decides to pass a resolution otherwise.
Negotiated Compensation: The acquisition of land from private parties should be undertaken on a negotiated basis.
Residents Association: At the time of granting tenure, it should become a pre-requisite for the residents to form an association/society which must be recognised by the urban local body.
Land Use Classification: Land use for in-situ upgradation projects should be designated as high density mixed use.
Layout Planning: In the in-situ upgrading projects, proper layout planning including plot re-alignment and also preferably equalisation of land/shared land areas should precede the granting of full property/tenurial rights.
Sale of Tenure/Property Rights: A fee should be collected from residents for the sale or transfer of ownership rights based on the following criteria:
a plot area up to a maximum of 25sq mts may be granted at a concessional rate
any area in excess of this may be granted at such rates decided by the ULB
plot sizes may be fixed below 25sq mts if mutually agreed by the community and the ULB
Sale of House Plots: While this Policy would like to ensure that, as far as possible, house plots remain with the original allottees, it also recognises that any over-regulation of the property market will simply lead to the flourishing of a "black market". With a view to obviate this, the Policy would not wish to prevent any poor household from realising the value of their asset should they be forced to sell for any legitimate reason (such as loss of income, death, etc) provided that any sale of plot/title meets with the approval of the residents association/ ULB established under c) above and where the property is preferably sold back to the same association/ ULB.
Resettlement and Rehabilitation
It should be the policy to follow the upgrading and improvement approach to deal with slums and informal settlements as opposed to resettlement. However, where habitation is on a site categorised as Untenable, resettlement and rehabilitation is the available best option. However those residing in listed settlements classified as Untenable are entitled to receive basic minimum services until proper relocation and resettlement provisions have been established and met. All States/ULBs must draw up comprehensive resettlement and relocation guidelines for urban dwellers and all relocation or resettlement of dwellers residing in Untenable sites shall be implemented strictly in accordance with such guidelines.
Planning for Integration:
All existing planning instruments such as Master Plans, Land Use Plans etc should be modified to ensure that slums and informal settlements can be properly integrated into the wider urban area.
Environmental Improvement
The Provision of physical infrastructure components such as water supply, drainage, sanitation, improved access, electricity etc, should support the ultimate objective of improved quality of life. The evidence from existing slum improvement projects clearly shows that an improved physical environment greatly facilitates the integration of the settlement in the wider urban area and at the same time, contributes to improved livelihoods and health and well being of the community.
Improving Access to Social Services
Basic services of health, education and access to credit are crucial for human capital development and reduce the incidence of poverty. Improved access to social services would also help building up the capacities of poor and empowering them to improve their own living conditions and quality of life. Effective delivery of these services would also reduce social inequities and promote integration of people residing in slums into the social and economic networks of the city as a whole, thereby enhancing the overall productivity of the city. Various physical infrastructure components such as water supply and sanitation have a direct bearing on improving health conditions in slums. This section outlines a number of complementary services where ULBs should actively seek to improve access for the urban poor.
Municipal Services to be brought under Consumer Protection Act:
It will be desirable to bring Municipal Services under the Consumer Protection Act to monitor quality and reliability of basic infrastructure services delivered at settlement level. This should be uniformly applied irrespective of tenure and land status of the settlement, with a specific mandate to monitor absolute levels of service coverage and differential levels of service availability throughout the ULB area. It is recommended that a special consumer panel be established in each municipality comprising members from different settlement categories (in proportion to their total number in the population) with authority to report to Council.
Economic Empowerment:
Financial Services for the Poor :
The poor primarily require mechanisms that will encourage savings for small lump sums that can be used for a variety of consumption (including emergency) and production purposes. These mechanisms can also be used for credit purposes based on group (solidarity) lending principles which involve incremental borrowing against social collateral (peer pressure). Such approaches have been seen to be far more successful ways of providing the poor with convenient access to credit on a sustainable basis (good internal discipline and low rates of default) than many of the subsidised schemes run by government which suffer from low levels of credit discipline, poor rates of repayment and high levels of leakage. Savings and credit groups can be further strengthened and supported through networking of such groups with each other to form a federated structure that may also access formal sources of credit.
Economic Support/Enterprise Development :
There is a need for ULBs to support interventions designed to address livelihood needs of the urban poor. This will include:
the provision of vocational training facilities
implementation of savings and credit schemes for self-employment
addressing constraints in the labour market
providing improved access to raw materials and marketing support
legal rights and redressal systems
Financing Sustainable Slum Improvement & Services
Resource Mobilisation: Positive and pro-active interventions for enlarging the resource base shall include a series of initiatives at Central/State/local levels:
State Financing: A Slum Development Fund (SDF) should be created at state level to support slum development activities taken up by ULBs. The SDF shall include :
Contribution from Central devolution of funds from Planning Commission and as earmarked by Central Finance Commission.
Bilateral/ Multi-lateral funding (directly to SDF or town specific)
Contribution from States own revenue resources
Municipal Convergence Funding: At Municipal level a variety of sources of funds could be converged to finance slum development as indicated in each ULB's Integrated Municipal Development Plan and Annual Action Plan. These sources may include:
Transfers from the State Slum Development Fund
Private contributions (with tax concessions) from business, industry and trade
Contributions from other domestic donors
Contributions from the Shelter Fund to finance shelter needs in slums
Matching contributions from community resource through CDSs
Revenues from a Vacant Land tax
Special Cess on new layouts (for slum development)
Revenues from any other taxes/cess or service charges
ULB priority sector allocations under the category of SC/ST/BC
Contributions from the general municipal fund as decided by the ULB
Percentage contribution from MPs/ MLAs/ Councillors funds.
Role of the Private Sector: It may be desirable to leverage additional resources for slum improvement by involving the private sector in certain projects which will utilise revenues from the commercial development of high value inner city slums for resettlement and rehabilitation schemes which will result in bringing about a substantial improvement in the physical, economic and social quality of life of slum dwellers.
Private Sector Funding: The contribution of slum dwellers in helping to maintain the productivity of local business, industry and trade is substantial. ULBs should take initiatives to mobilise resources from the private sector either for the adoption of specific development works at slum level in accordance with the priorities identified in the Municipal Slum Development Plan (MSDP) and Annual Action Plans (see Section 7 above) or through direct contributions to the ULB convergence fund. State governments and ULBs may consider introducing fiscal incentives such as tax exemptions etc as an incentive to mobilising contributions.
Institutional Finance: ULBs may also consider other means of attracting capital for investment in city and slum infrastructure such as raising bonds and institutional loan finance. A refinancing scheme may be extended (in line with NHB refinancing) to facilitate city governments to raise funds from identified commercial banks.
Extending Tax Base: Slum areas, particularly those which have been provided with services should be de-notified (refer to earlier point No.3) and brought under the net of municipal taxes. A Consolidated Service Tax (as part of Property Tax family) on properties located in slums (Tenable and Untentable) should be levied to raise resources from the users. Similarly, other land based taxes on specific developments such as illegal sub-division (regularised-unauthorised) should be applied to recover costs on the basis of paying capacities and used to cross-subsidise the development of slums.
User Charges : At the administrative and political level any unwillingness to charge for services delivered should be discouraged. The standard and effectiveness of service delivery can only be improved if sufficient funds are recovered from the operation of services. ULBs may consider cross-subsidy from user charges where appropriate. It may be important to utilise the services of private agencies and CBOs in this process.
Community Cost Sharing: Slum improvement projects should encourage contributions from the community right from the beginning as a means of sharing costs and extending works from the stage of prioritising/inclusion of slums for service delivery to further stages of assessment of needs and demands followed by planning and implementation. The cost sharing approach enhances, commitment and self-reliance.
Selling of Land Title : ULBs may consider selling of title on an installment basis as a means of raising capital for upgrading and improvement as also to meet the expenses for operations and maintenance. Regularisation and grant of tenure should be linked with (a) loans to beneficiaries for meeting the costs (partially) on infrastructure provision, and (b) mobilisation of community resources (as done under Madras Urban Development Project - MUDP). In this regard community/collective collateral may be used as security to finance subsequent provision of infrastructure.
