The chief minister said the board was formed by former chief minister M Karunanidhi during his first stint in Fort St George in 1970. He built thousands of tenements for the poor which was appreciated by former Union minister Jagjivan Ram, affectionately called Babuji.Babujialso expressed his wish to see such a scheme being followed by all states. To that extent, the slum clearance board has been effectively extending its service, Stalin said.
The renaming of the board was being done with to uplift the livelihood of the people living in huts and raise their standard of living, not just removing the huts, the chief minister said.
The slum clearance board, a pioneer in providing housing to urban poor, has programmed 9.53 lakh tenements and individuals under Housing for All scheme for the urban slum/poor families before 2030. The board implements various housing schemes, including in-situ tenement schemes, integrated townships, construction of houses by the beneficiaries and reconstruction of dilapidated tenements.