Realizing Ambitions of the Rajiv Awas Yojana: Slum Planning Schemes – A Statutory Framework for Improving Slums and Assigning Tenure Rapid implementation of slum improvement projects – as the Rajiv Awas Yojana proposes to do – is a truly formidable challenge. This is true even in cities where political resolve, finance and institutional capacity are not significant constraints. This talk will argue that, were we to institute a statutory framework that enables officers to concurrently deal with technical, financial, organizational and tenure related complexities of slum improvement projects, it would be much easier for mandated agencies to meet this challenge. The statutory framework that will be proposed – Slum Planning Schemes – draws on several existing mechanisms, such as the T P Schemes mechanism. It is designed to enhance participation, enable collaboration, promote transparency, support fiscal prudence, and, to uphold formal and informal rights of landowners, slum communities and the government. It takes a pragmatic approach and promotes fairness. Eschewing a one-size-fits-all policy approach, it advocates flexibility in structuring slum-specific physical and tenure improvement projects. Bimal Patel is a consultant, researcher and teacher. He is founder director of Environmental Planning Collaborative, a not-for-profit research, advisory and advocacy organization that works with government to understand and transform urban design and planning practice in India. He also leads HCP Design and Project Management, a fifty year old firm that provides urban planning, urban design, architecture, interior design and project management services. Bimal Patel holds a Master’s Degree in Architecture and a PhD in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. ———————————————————————————————————- This is the seventeenth in a series of Urban Workshops planned by the Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH), New Delhi and Centre for Policy Research (CPR). These workshops seek to provoke public discussion on issues relating to the development of the city and try to address all its facets including its administration, culture, economy, society, and politics. For further information, please contact: Marie-Hélène Zerah at marie-helene.zerah@ird.fr or Partha Mukhopadhyay atpartha@cprindia.org
