Mumbai Suburban Guardian Minister and Minister for Electronics, Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence and Cultural Affairs, Advocate Ashish Shelar, has directed officials to expand the Abhay Scheme to cover around 25,000 slum dwellers who have been deprived of its benefits due to changes in eligibility and transfer of slums after Appendix-II.
Under the existing scheme, eligible residents of slums covered by rehabilitation schemes prepared before Appendix-II are receiving the benefits of the Abhay Scheme, particularly in stalled rehabilitation projects.
However, residents who were declared ineligible in Appendix-II but could qualify under subsequent rules, as well as those who lost eligibility because their slums were transferred after Appendix-II, have remained outside the scheme.
Against this backdrop, Shelar has directed the authorities to immediately initiate steps to include eligible and ineligible slum dwellers who made payments during the 2000-2011 period under the Abhay Scheme and extend its benefits to them.
The decision is expected to open the way for nearly 25,000 affected slum residents in Mumbai to access the scheme. It could also help revive stalled rehabilitation projects and resolve long-pending issues concerning the rehabilitation of slum dwellers.
Shelar has further instructed officials to examine pending cases related to eligibility, transfers and Appendix-II as per the applicable rules and complete the necessary proposals and administrative procedures for effective implementation of the scheme.
The move is aimed at ensuring that eligible slum residents are not denied rehabilitation benefits because of procedural or historical changes in the status of their settlements
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