Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today announced that the state government would construct one lakh houses for economically weaker sections in the next three years. He asked the Centre to form state-specific schemes and create special funds to facilitate such efforts of state governments. Participating in the “Housing for All Conclave” of state ministers of Housing and Urban Development here today, the Deputy CM, who also holds the Housing portfolio, said the Punjab Government had made a social commitment to its people to construct 1 lakh houses for the weaker sections. He said the state had already created a land bank of 300 acres for the purpose and expected it to increase exponentially in the next one year. As part of a policy, all developers in Punjab had to hand over 5 per cent of their gross area to the government for developing housing for the economically weaker sections. Besides, the state has already enacted a housing policy envisaging private partnership, so that the committed housing could be built in the stipulated time frame, he said. He proposed that the Centre could create a special fund in which excise revenue collected from sale of construction material could be deposited. He said this revenue could then be transferred to the states for subsidising housing for the weaker sections. Another proposal put forward by Sukhbir Badal included exempting development authorities like GMADA and GLADA from payment of income tax. He said such authorities were contributing to urban development by creating infrastructure and housing for the weaker sections and income tax should not be levied on these. Emphasising that housing growth was a parameter of economic prosperity, he also recommended that the Centre should consider reducing interest rates on affordable housing as inexpensive housing was the need of hour. He said this single step would give an impetus to affordable housing projects in the entire country. Taking up issues related to the states, Sukhbir also suggested that the Centre should come up with state-specific schemes in the housing sector as each state had its specific needs. He also pressed for resumption of financing of all projects that were taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM) earlier, but could not be completed.