According to the estimates of UNESCAP, 29.4 percent of India’s urban population lived in slums. This proportion is even higher in metropolitan cities like Kolkata, Mumbai etc. Factors responsible for the formation and proliferation of slums in India include: Growth rate of population (urbanization): The growth rate of the Indian population is very high and this growth rate is much higher in the urban areas because of the migration of large numbers of people from rural to urban. Poor housing planning: Lack of affordable low cost housing and poor planning by the government encourages the supply side of slums. Regional imbalances in development: Regional imbalance in development creates rural to urban migration, thus increasing the overall urban population density, which pressurizes the urban poor to move into slums. Limited access to financial resources: Slum dwellers typically inhabit marginal locations such as dumping grounds mainly due to the low purchasing power of slum dwellers in formal land markets when compared with high-income groups. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban): The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) the urban housing for all mission was designed to address the housing requirements of the Indian urban poor and slum dwellers through five programme verticals, as shown in the figure:

• The BLC, CLSS, and AHP target low-income households who have a relatively secure and regular flow of income.
• In contrast, the ISSR and ARHC target very poor households unable to access housing through formal housing markets.

Need to revamp ISSR component of PM Awas Yojana (Urban) to address the issue of slums:

• Divergence in the sanctions under verticals: While the sanctioning of houses under the BLC and CLSS verticals has steadily grown, on the other hand, the sanctioning of houses under the ISSR stand at meagre 3.5%.
• Top to bottom approach: The policy impetus of the ISSR scheme flows from the top (government authorities) to the bottom (beneficiary) of the policy chain in which the policy intervention starts when slum dwellers and private players are approached for redevelopment by the authorities.
• Lengthy dispute resolution process: The scheme implementation process involves the active participation of agents such as government authorities, private landowners, private developers, and slum dwellers’ associations. As various interests are involved in the process, the time taken to resolve disagreements and conflicts leads to a higher gestation period for each project.
• Lack of interest by private players: The lack of interest shown by private players has been one of the reasons for the reduced uptake of the vertical. Unless private players find a specific project profitable and in line with their interests, the implementation gets stuck in the planning stage.

Lessons can be learned from the Jaga Mission (Odisha) to revamp the ISSR vertical of PMAY-U. Another is Community land trust, a long-term sustainable model focused on participatory and community-led processes, in which the land title is vested in a non-profit community trust and only improvement rights are granted to a homeowner. Thus, the land is cut out from speculative housing markets, providing the community members with long-term housing affordability, security, and community control of the neighbourhood.