Affordable housing: Govt of India "shifts" focus from poor to middle classes, says foremost urban, housing expert

By A Representative
In a scathing critique of the Union budget 2017-18, India’s foremost urban development and housing expert Prof Amitabh Kundu has said that failure of the focus on affordable housing “worries him”. Pointing out that Arun Jaitley in his speech said this is “a major area of concern”, Kundu said, there is a failure to understand that “there are not many takers for loans” for affordable housing.
In an email alert to Counterview, Kundu said, “The poor are not coming forward to take the loan of Rs 3 lakh which the government has announced. They revised it from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh generally and for the low income groups from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 6 lakh, but still not many people from those sections are coming in.”
The poor, he said, “cannot repay even monthly installments for the Rs 3 lakh loan; even though they pay only 2% interest and the government pays 5% of the amount, the installment still comes to Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,000 per month. The poor, who have a monthly income of Rs 6,000 per household, can't pay Rs 2,000 for a housing loan.”
Hinting that the aim appears to appease the middle classes, Kundu further said, “Modi has announced housing loans up to Rs 9 lakh will get a subsidy of 4% now, and loans up to Rs 12 lakh will get a subsidy of 3%. So, now that you have hiked the loan to Rs 12 lakh, you find the middle class grabbing this opportunity.”
Pointing out that this suggests, whole logic appears to be “absurd” and the Government of India’s “focus has changed”, Kundu said, it has “shifted from the poor to the housing sector. A lot of houses that are lying vacant, the middle class will go and buy those.”
“They will get Rs 1 lakh subsidy for it”, underlined Kundu, adding, “The poor can't even pay the installments for Rs 3 lakh loan. So, all these announcements – no tax for builders until the project is completed, capital gains tax exemption – it is all for the middle class and the upper middle class…The thrust in the PMAY on the poor is now diluted.”
Kundu further said, an option now opened up for a person from the middle class is to build a house for Rs 30 lakh after taking a Rs 12 lakh loan, on which he will get this subsidy, as he is “not barred from getting this subsidy.” He added, “You are helping the middle class buy those houses. It is totally the housing sector lobby that has prevailed.”
Pointing towards the shortage in housing for poor, as of today, is 20 million, Kundu – who headed the Technical Advisory Committee on Housing Start up Index at the RBI and the Committee to Estimate Shortage of Affordable Housing and as the Committee to Estimate Shortage of Affordable Housing, Government of India – said, as chairman of the housing committee, he knew, as many as 11 million houses were lying vacant.
“So more than 50% of the shortage is already available”, he said, adding, “All you have to do is to make sure that the vacant houses are brought to the market. Instead of doing that, you are facilitating the building of more vacant houses.”

Pointing out that the Housing Shortage Committee had estimated a shortage of 95% houses for the economically weaker sections and low income groups, Kundu said, “You can't have only 5% of the total housing expenditure coming from the public sector and 95% from the private sector if the target is low income groups and economically weaker sections.”

Comments

Grueling summer ahead: Cuttack’s alarming health trends and what they mean for Odisha

By Sudhansu R Das The preparation to face the summer should begin early in Odisha. People in the state endure long, grueling summer months starting from mid-February and extending until the end of October. This prolonged heat adversely affects productivity, causes deaths and diseases, and impacts agriculture, tourism and the unorganized sector. The social, economic and cultural life of the state remains severely disrupted during the peak heat months.

Stronger India–Russia partnership highlights a missed energy breakthrough

By N.S. Venkataraman* The recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India was widely publicized across several countries and has attracted significant global attention. The warmth with which Mr. Putin was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was particularly noted, prompting policy planners worldwide to examine the implications of this cordial relationship for the global economy and political climate. India–Russia relations have stood on a strong foundation for decades and have consistently withstood geopolitical shifts. This is in marked contrast to India’s ties with the United States, which have experienced fluctuations under different U.S. administrations.

From natural farming to fair prices: Young entrepreneurs show a new path

By Bharat Dogra There have been frequent debates on agro-business companies not showing adequate concern for the livelihoods of small farmers. Farmers’ unions have often protested—generally with good reason—that while they do not receive fair returns despite high risks and hard work, corporate interests that merely process the crops produced by farmers earn disproportionately high profits. Hence, there is a growing demand for alternative models of agro-business development that demonstrate genuine commitment to protecting farmer livelihoods.

The Vande Mataram debate and the politics of manufactured controversy

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The recent Vande Mataram debate in Parliament was never meant to foster genuine dialogue. Each political party spoke past the other, addressing its own constituency, ensuring that clips went viral rather than contributing to meaningful deliberation. The objective was clear: to construct a Hindutva narrative ahead of the Bengal elections. Predictably, the Lok Sabha will likely expunge the opposition’s “controversial” remarks while retaining blatant inaccuracies voiced by ministers and ruling-party members. The BJP has mastered the art of inserting distortions into parliamentary records to provide them with a veneer of historical legitimacy.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

The cost of being Indian: How inequality and market logic redefine rights

By Vikas Gupta We, the people of India, are engaged in a daily tryst—read: struggle—for basic human rights. For the seemingly well-to-do, the wish list includes constant water supply, clean air, safe roads, punctual public transportation, and crime-free neighbourhoods. For those further down the ladder, the struggle is starker: food that fills the stomach, water that doesn’t sicken, medicines that don’t kill, houses that don’t flood, habitats at safe distances from polluted streams or garbage piles, and exploitation-free environments in the public institutions they are compelled to navigate.

Why India must urgently strengthen its policies for an ageing population

By Bharat Dogra A quiet but far-reaching demographic transformation is reshaping much of the world. As life expectancy rises and birth rates fall, societies are witnessing a rapid increase in the proportion of older people. This shift has profound implications for public policy, and the need to strengthen frameworks for healthy and secure ageing has never been more urgent. India is among the countries where these pressures will intensify most sharply in the coming decades.

Thota Sitaramaiah: An internal pillar of an underground organisation

By Harsh Thakor* Thota Sitaramaiah was regarded within his circles as an example of the many individuals whose work in various underground movements remained largely unknown to the wider public. While some leaders become visible through organisational roles or media attention, many others contribute quietly, without public recognition. Sitaramaiah was considered one such figure. He passed away on December 8, 2025, at the age of 65.

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

Search This Blog