Rail minister asks RLDA to take up housing projects on land parcels for young employees

NEW DELHI: Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has asked the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) to take up residential projects on its land parcels in cities, to create affordable rental housing stocks for its young workforce.

Responding to questions on the projects being executed by the RLDA across the country, Vaishnaw said there is a huge opportunity to develop rental housing complexes in cities which the new workforce can afford. “I have urged RLDA chairman to look into this. This will cater to the requirements of people who come to cities after getting jobs and work. They need decent accommodation at an affordable price,” he added. Rental housing is popular across major global cities.

The minister said RLDA has taken up redevelopment of several projects, including residential ones, across different cities. RLDA is a railway ministry agency that redevelops railway land for commercial and residential purposes.

Railway ministry sources said creating affordable rental housing can be a good revenue generation model for RLDA and will also address an issue that a large number of people coming to cities for jobs face.

During the first phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, the govt had announced the Affordable Rental Housing Complex (ARHC) scheme to cater to the requirements of migrant workers who end up staying in slums, informal settlements, or unauthorised colonies to save money on housing.