Let us review the story and see how this programme became a success.

The story can be traced back to the days when Lucknow was badly hit by encroachers. The migrants, in large numbers, seeking employment in the city had settled by the main bazaar, railway lines, at the bank of river and drains and on the pavements. The local government strived to clear the slums but nothing could be done at a large scale. The slums escalated unrestrained, resulting into the narrowing of roads, constantly distorting the face of the city.

To find a solution to this acute problem, a comprehensive slum removal and rehabilitation plan was developed. While slums were cleared, making commercial use of valuable land, the poor families were settled by distributing houses on a loan payment of Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 15 per day. This way, a new experiment of cross subsidisation was implemented successfully.

The most important aspect of this programme was the maximum utilisation of cost-effective building technologies. The benefit of reducing expenditure in construction made it possible to build more houses in the limited economic resources. Quality was the most important concern while using the cost-effective technologies. The building centre services were utilised for this purpose. The main techniques used were rat-trap-bond, bathroom roofs of funicular shells, roofs of MCR tiles and ferrocement drain covers. A saving of 25 per cent was made possible with the use of these technologies. At the press conference called to announce this programme, Shri Vajpayee stressed that the whole state would derive benefits from this start and many more experiments should be replicated in future.

Apart from these, the Yojana encompasses other planning aspects that were implemented. For example, the malin basti remedy planning made the construction of roads and drains possible. Under the poverty eradication and clean water programme, public lavatories were constructed. The education department constructed schools and hospitals. In the periphery, bio-gas plants were installed. Under the Jawahar Rojgar Yojana, the poor received loans to obtain employment.

While the success, at the superficial level, of the state government must be applauded, it would be interesting to know whether the government has any means to transform the loss running agencies like the Housing Development Council and Town Development Agency which handles the implementation of such programmes into profitable ventures. It may be possible, otherwise, that the extra economic burden of these programme might turn the agencies into bankruptcy. Also, it would be interesting to find out if the government has devised any effective mechanisms to collect the loan instalments from the beneficiaries.

The government will surely find answers to counter these questions in the same way as it has launched the many housing yojanas. In the words of Shri Vajpayee, "The private sector will not come forward to make houses for the poor, the state will, therefore, have to step in."

Under the shadow of Dindayalpuram (Takrohi) Housing Yojana, the government has given the responsibility of 700 such houses to the Housing Development Council. The Council has to build these houses in its limited economic resources without compromising quality and durability. The houses must be aesthetic and strong. To achieve this, cost-effective technologies are being promoted by the state government in its own projects.